O  G 

JTY 


•'  / 


\]t[i 


ITALY 
past  and  present. 


ITALY 

past  and  present. 


:?-     -^ 


'-^     vj  -'i-^ 


7>' 


y 


ITALY 

past    and    present. 


.in 


GV^ 


"C 


ITALY 

past  and  present. 


The  special  Eotunda  of  the  Italian  Exhibit  contains  the  like- 
nesses of  men  who  carried  on  l;iigh  the  torch  of  human  progress, 
forerunners  and  m:.sters  in  science  and  art;  it  illustrates  the  va- 
rious phases  and  steps  passed  through  to  attain  Italian  Unity ;  it 
renders  bare  justice  to  the  principal  leaders  in  the  national  struggle; 
it  prospects  the  present  state  of  the  country  as  compared  with 
its  former  condition  in  comparatively  recent  times:  in  one  word 
it  has  the  elements  necessary  to  give  an  idea  of  what  we  toere 
and  what  we  are. 

People  from  afar,  who  live  their  own  lives,  in  their  own  sur- 
roundings and  atmosphere,  not  altogether  familiar  with  our  present 
standing,  are  wont  to  consider  Italy  from  the  standpoint  of  its 
majestic  ruins,  its  glorious  buildings,  statues  and  pictures,  the 
whole  seasoned  with  melodic  singing  and  maccaroni !  A  delightful 
haunt  for  tourists,  where  sunny  skies  enhance  the  joy  of  beautiful 
landscapes,  noble  remains  of  former  times,  unique  collections  of 
art,  towns,  villages  and  hamlets  reflecting  the  life  of  past  ages: 
so  far,  so  good.  Our  climate  is  delightful,  our  country  pictu- 
resque, the  monuments  and  treasures  of  former  civilisations  bring 
home  to  one's  mind  the  fact  that  in  some  aspects  of  life  progress 
is  not  continual,  that  the  sense  of  beauty  embodied  in  stone  or 
canvass  is  hardly  a  modern  invention ;  the  strains  on  the  Venetian 
canals  or  the  bay  of  Naples  evoke  musical  sentiment;  even  the 
maccaroni,  when  properly  prepared  and  cooked,  carry  their  gas- 
tronomical  lesson :  but  that  is  not  all. 


■'i±m^ 


.  i  n 


Af'^ 


ITALY 

past  and  present. 


The  special  Eotunda  of  the  Italian  Exhibit  contains  tlie  like- 
nesses of  men  who  carried  on  liigh  the  torch  of  human  progress, 
forerunners  and  masters  in  science  and  art;  it  illustrates  the  va- 
rious phases  and  steps  passed  through  to  attain  Italian  Unity ;  it 
renders  bare  justice  to  the  principal  leaders  in  the  national  struggle; 
it  prospects  the  present  state  of  the  country  as  compared  with 
its  former  condition  in  comparatively  recent  times:  in  one  word 
it  has  the  elements  necessary  to  give  an  idea  of  what  we  tvere 
and  what  we  are. 

People  from  afar,  who  live  their  own  lives,  in  their  own  sur- 
roundings and  atmosphere,  not  altogether  familiar  with  our  present 
standing,  are  wont  to  consider  Italy  from  the  standpoint  of  its 
majestic  ruins,  its  glorious  buildings,  statues  and  pictures,  the 
whole  seasoned  with  melodic  singing  and  maccaroni !  A  delightful 
haunt  for  tourists,  where  sunny  skies  enhance  the  joy  of  beautiful 
landscapes,  noble  remains  of  former  times,  unique  collections  of 
art,  towns,  villages  and  hamlets  reflecting  the  life  of  past  ages: 
so  far,  so  good.  Our  climate  is  delightful,  our  country  pictu- 
resque, the  monuments  and  treasures  of  former  civilisations  bring 
home  to  one's  mind  the  fact  that  in  some  aspects  of  life  progress 
is  not  continual,  that  the  sense  of  beauty  embodied  in  stone  or 
canvass  is  hardly  a  modern  invention ;  the  strains  on  the  Venetian 
canals  or  the  bay  of  Naples  evoke  musical  sentiment;  even  the 
maccaroni,  when  properly  prepared  and  cooked,  carry  their  gas- 
tronomical  lesson :  but  that  is  not  all. 


=  ^g^^^ 


J  n  .  ?! 


A?-^ 


ITALY 

past  and  present. 


The  apocial  Eotunda  of  the  Italian  Exhibit  contains  tlie  like- 
nesses of  men  who  carried  on  high  the  torch  of  human  progress, 
forerunners  and  mr'.sters  in  science  and  art;  it  illustrates  the  va- 
rious phases  and  steps  passed  through  to  attain  Italian  Unity ;  it 
renders  bare  justice  to  the  principal  leaders  in  the  national  struggle; 
it  prospects  the  present  state  of  the  country  as  compared  with 
its  former  condition  in  comparatively  recent  times:  in  one  word 
it  has  the  elements  necessary  to  give  an  idea  of  what  we  loere 
and  what  we  are. 

People  from  afar,  who  live  their  own  lives,  in  their  own  sur- 
roundings and  atmosphere,  not  altogether  familiar  with  our  present 
standing,  are  wont  to  consider  Italy  from  the  standpoint  of  its 
majestic  ruins,  its  glorious  buildings,  statues  and  pictures,  the 
whole  seasoned  with  melodic  singing  and  maccaroni !  A  delightful 
haunt  for  tourists,  where  sunny  skies  enhance  the  joy  of  beautiful 
landscapes,  noble  remains  of  former  times,  unique  collections  of 
art,  towns,  villages  and  hamlets  reflecting  the  life  of  past  ages: 
so  far,  so  good.  Our  climate  is  delightful,  our  country  pictu- 
resque, the  monuments  and  treasures  of  former  civilisations  bring 
home  to  one's  mind  the  fact  that  in  some  aspects  of  life  progress 
is  not  continual,  that  the  sense  of  beauty  embodied  in  stone  or 
canvass  is  hardly  a  modern  invention ;  the  strains  on  the  Venetian 
canals  or  the  bay  of  l^aples  evoke  musical  sentiment;  even  the 
maccaroni,  when  properly  prepared  and  cooked,  carry  their  gas- 
tronomical  lesson:  but  that  is  not  all. 


:  bg^^t^^ 


r 


.  J  ri    ,  :-;  0 


A? 


"C 


ITALY 

past  and  present. 


The  spocial  Eotunda  of  the  Italian  Exhibit  contains  tlie  like- 
nesses of  men  who  carried  on  high  the  torch  of  human  progress, 
forerunners  and  masters  in  science  and  art;  it  illustrates  the  va- 
rious phases  and  steps  passed  through  to  attain  Italian  Unity ;  it 
renders  bare  justice  to  the  principal  leaders  in  the  national  struggle; 
it  prospects  the  present  state  of  the  country  as  compared  with 
its  former  condition  in  comparatively  recent  times:  in  one  word 
it  has  the  elements  necessary  to  give  an  idea  of  what  we  ivere 
and  what  we  are. 

People  from  afar,  who  live  their  own  lives,  in  their  own  sur- 
roundings and  atmosphere,  not  altogether  familiar  with  our  present 
standing,  are  wont  to  consider  Italy  from  the  standpoint  of  its 
majestic  ruins,  its  glorious  buildings,  statues  and  pictures,  the 
whole  seasoned  with  melodic  singing  and  maccaroni !  A  delightful 
haunt  for  tourists,  where  sunny  skies  enhance  the  joy  of  beautiful 
landscapes,  noble  remains  of  former  times,  unique  collections  of 
art,  towns,  villages  and  hamlets  reflecting  the  life  of  past  ages: 
so  far,  so  good.  Our  climate  is  delightful,  our  country  pictu- 
resque, the  monuments  and  treasures  of  former  civilisations  bring 
home  to  one's  mind  the  fact  that  in  some  aspects  of  life  progress 
is  not  continual,  that  the  sense  of  beauty  embodied  in  stone  or 
canvass  is  hardly  a  modern  invention ;  the  strains  on  the  Venetian 
canals  or  the  bay  of  IsTaples  evoke  musical  sentiment;  even  the 
maccaroni,  when  properly  prepared  and  cooked,  carry  their  gas- 
tronomical  lesson :  but  that  is  not  all. 


:  bg^^t^^ 


~  6  — 

Beside  the  past  lives  the  present;  beside  two  eras  in  whic> 
Italy  stood  foremost,  holding  undisputed  sway  among  nations,  stands 
a  third,  the  modern,  in  which  she  rises  again  to  strenuous  life, 
holding  her  own,  a  great  nation  among  nations,  in  all  the  branches 
of  our  present  civilisation,  thinking,  writing,  working,  striving  on 
the  path  of  industrial,  economical,  social,  political,  moral  progress. 

To  the  many  who  know  the  Italian  people  merely  through  its 
peaceful  army  of  sober  hardworking  emigrants,  born  out  of  the 
rapid  fructifying  increase  in  the  population,  our  present  conditions 
are  unknown  and  these  we  endeavour  to  bring  home  to  them  in 
a  sober  reproduction  of  faces,  facts  and  figures  endowed  with  silent 
eloquence  for  those  who  care  to  know. 

It  is  as  though,  through  past  and  present  work,  the  principal 
civiliser  of  the  Old  World  were  extending  its  hand  to  the  principal 
civiliser  of  the  New,  in  the  profound  belief  that  past  endeavour, 
natural  aptitudes,  natural  sympathies  can  and  will  bind  together 
the  United  States  and  united  Italy  in  the  immortal  cause  of  human 
progress  ! 

Many  of  the  following  biographical  summaries,  explanations  or 
tabular  demonstrations  of  facts  will  be  familiar  to  many  of  our 
readers ;  to  some  however  they  may  be  new,  to  others  interesting : 
therein  lies  the  justification  of  their  appearing  in  print. 


EXPLORERS, 


CRISTOFORO  COLOMBO. 

Cristoforo  Colombo  was  bom  at  Cogolcto  in  the  Gulf  of  Genoa 
it  is  supposed  towards  1445.  His  father,  a  wool  carder,  appreciat- 
ing the  boy's  natural  talent  for  mathematics,  geography  and  as- 
tronomy, left  him  free  to  study  first  at  Genova,  then  to  complete 
the  higher  course  at  Pavia.  He  afterwards  entrusted  him  to  a  cousin, 
an  old  privateer  who  sailed  with  letters  of  marque  to  war  against 
the  enemies   of   Genoa,    the   Turks  and  the  Venetians.     The  boy 


took  kindly  indeed  to  the  adventurous  life,  was  soon  completely 
enthralled  by  the  problems  and  dangers  of  the  seas,  still  little 
is  known  of  his  life  from  14  to  25.  Toward  1470  his  navigation 
began  limited  however  until  1473  to  the  Mediterranean,  where 
probably  he  was  in  the  service  of  Eenato  d'Angio  who  had  the 
hghest  opinion  of  his  worth  as  a  navigator.  In  76  he  was  in 
Portugal  on  a  Portuguese  ship;  whilst  navigating  100  leagues  beyond 
Iceland  he  was  surprised  to  find  himself  in  open  water.  In  1481, 
after  living  for  some  time  at  Lisbon,  he  married  the  daughter  of 
an  Italian,  Pelestrello,  governor  of  Porto  Santo,  in  the  Madeira 
group,  he  had  colonised.  He  settled  there,  found  great  help  in 
the  governor's  charts  in  drawing  up  the  ocean  charts  and  geogra- 
phical maps  on  which  he  depended  for  a  livelihood.  Whilst  living 
at  Porto  Santo,  poring  over  maps,  he  convinced  himself  of  land 
existing  beyond  the  ocean. 

The  first  traces  of  his  project  to  cross  the  Atlantic  appear 
toward  1480  in  a  correspondence  with  an  Italian  physician,  Tosca- 
nelli,  who  had  already  conceived  something  of  the  same  kind  acd 
submitted  it  to  the  Portuguese  Court.  The  spherical  ships  of  the 
globe,  then  universally  admitted,  theories  of  old  and  modern  writers, 
presumptions  of  navigators,  all  pointed  one  way,  justified  the 
project  so  long  thought  over,  to  abandon  the  near  east  for  the  far 
west.  He  laid  before  King  John  of  Portugal  his  plan,  bnt  the 
learned  seers  called  upon  to  examine  it  pooh  poohed  it  as  Utopia  ! 
Towards  1486  convinced  more  than  ever  of  his  th  o.y*s  truth  by 
the  futile  opposition  it  raised,  he  wont  to  Spiin,  where,  thanks 
to  a  past  confeisor  in  favour  at  Court  he  met  at  the  hand  of 
Queen  Isabella  a  more  indulgent  reception.  Still  time  passed;  only 
after  seven  years  strife  against  obstacles  springing  up  on  all  sides, 
was  the  expedition  decided. 

With  infinite  labour,  recurring  uselessly  to  Portugal,  England, 
France  and  Spain,  over  a  dozen  years  passed  in  useless  endeavours 
to  obtain  from  some  one  vessels  and  letters  of  marque;  finally  in 
1491  Isabella  of  Spain  and  a  grudging  husband,  Ferdinand,  con- 
ceded him  three  small  caravels  and  120  men  to  proceed  on  his 
voyage  of  discovery  across  the  boundless  ocean !  They  sailed. 
Al'ter  infinite  doubts  and  fears  on  the  part  of  the  crew,  threats 
^.nd  open  mutiny,  finally  land  was  reached  the  12  October  1492  at 


—  8  — 

S.  Salvador,  touching  afterwards  Conception  and  Cuba,  Haiti  and 
8.  Domingo. 

He  might  have  been  as  discouraged  as  his  men,  had  not  the 
floating  seaweed,  the  shifting  of  the  ma-^netic  needle  l)oth  com- 
forted him  and  convinced  him  the  Unl  was  there.  At  last !  The 
return  in  Spain  was  a  triumph.  In  a  second  expedition,  Septem- 
ber 1493,  the  Admiral  reached  the  Caraibo  Islands,  Porto  Eico 
and  Jamaica;  in  a  third,  1498,  Trinidad  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Orinoco.  In  1500  Ferdinand  rewarded  Colombo  by  putting  him  in 
chains,  whilst  sending  a  governor  to  replace  him  in  the  new  lands 
he  had  discovered.  Eeembarking  again  still  on  discoveries  intent, 
in  May  1502  he  coasted  along  Honduras  and  Costarica  without 
notable  results,  returning  to  Spain  in  1504,  to  oblivion,  ingratitude, 
misery  and  death  at  Valladolid  on  the  20  of  May  1506. 


SEBASTIANO  CABOTO. 

Sebastiano  Caboto,  son  of  John,  a  merchant  in  Venice,  born 
in  Bristol  1477,  received  from  Henry  the  VII  letters  patent  author- 
ising him  to  discover  and  conquer  unknown  lands  in  the  King's 
name.  Sailed,  probably  with  his  father,  certainly  with  his  brothers 
Louis  and  Sanzio,  from  Bristol  24*'»  of  June  1497.  Was  the  first 
to  discover  North  America,  reached  56  latitude,  probably  the  coast 
of  Labrador.  Whereby,  on  his  return,  obtained  other  letters  patent, 
3*^  February,  1498,  authorisin;^  John  Caboto  to  possess  himself  of  six 
ships  of  200  tonnage  or  less  in  any  part  of  the  Kingdom  to  take 
possession  of  the  discovered  lands  in  the  King's  name.  Sebastian 
was  the  head  and  commander  of  the  expedition. 

On  the  death  of  Henry  the  VII  Sebastian  Caboto  removed 
to  Spain  September  1512,  on  the  invitation  of  Ferdinand,  invested 
with  the  title  of  Captain  on  generous  pay,  until,  disgusted  by  the 
persecution  to  which  he  was  subjected  by  Fonseca,  also  the  chief 
enemy  of  Columbus,  he  returned  to  England,  where,  in  1517,  he 
was  employed  by  Henry  the  VII  in  seeking  the  traditional  North 
West  Passage.  He  gained  latitude  67  V2  it  seems,  entering  Hud- 
eoii's  Bay.    Again  ift  vSpain  Charlos  V  inves^ie4  him  with  the  title 


—  9  — 

of  head  Pilot  and  the  privilege  of  examining  and  reporting  on  all 
projects  of  maritime  discovery.  In  1526  a  company  was  formed 
in  Seville  for  trading  with  the  Moluccas,  Caboto  directing.  He 
organised  an  expedition  that  gained  the  coast  of  Brazil,  explored 
the  Eiver  La  Plata,  took  possession  of  the  banks,  erected  forts 
for  the  protection  of  projected  colonies,  but  was  obliged  to  return 
in  1531,  incapable  of  withstanding  the  attacks  of  the  natives. 

In  1540  Caboto  again  returned  to  England,  favoured  by  Ed- 
ward V.  After  directing  an  expedition  to  the  Baltic  and  the 
JiTorthern  Ocean,  inaugurating  commercial  traffic  with  Eussia,  he 
is  supposed  to  have  died,  octogenarian,  in  England  in  the  year  1557. 

The  portrait  is  an  enlargement  of  the  engraving  of  the  "  Har- 
ford "  attributed  to  Holbein.  The  dress  the  official  one  as  "  Gov- 
ernor of  the  mysterie  and  companie  of  the  Merchants  adventures 
for  the  discoverie  of  Eegions,  Dominions,  Islands  and  places  unk- 
nowen  ". 


AMERIGO  VESPUCCI. 

Born  in  Florence  the  9*^  of  March  1451,  son  of  a  notary,  Ana- 
Btasio,  nephew  of  a  Domenican  friar,  friend  of  Era  Savonarola,  Era 
Giorgio  Antonio,  to  whom  he  owed  his  scholarly  education. 

With  a  pronounced  bent  for  philosophy,  astronomy  and  geo- 
graphy, he  was  placed  by  his  father  clerk  in  the  great  commercial 
house  of  the  Medici.  Sent  as  agent  of  the  firm  to  Seville,  on  the 
death  of  an  Italian  merchant,  Juanoto  Berardi,  who  had  fitted 
out  Columbus's  second  expedition  in  1493  and  had  undertaken  to 
organise  another  of  twelve  ships  for  the  King  of  Spain,  Vespucci 
was  commissioned  to  complete  the  contract  in  1495. 

He  claims  to  have  sailed  on  a  first  expedition  from  Cadiz  in 
1497,  on  a  second  in  May  1499,  on  a  third  in  the  service  of  Don 
Manuel  of  Portugal  in  May  1501,  on  a  fourth  and  last  for  Portugal 
with  six  ships  in  May  1503.  In  1595,  receiving  Spanish  letters  of 
naturalisation,  he  was  named  chief  pilot  of  Spain,  an  office  he  held 
until  his  death  in  Seville  22"^^  of  February  1512. 

Vespucci's  account  affirms  his  reaching  the  American  mainland 


—  10  — 

eight  days  before  Giovanni  Caboto,  June  the  16*^  against  June 
the  24"'  1497.  Whether  or  no  his  own  narration  carries  conviction, 
whether  his  letter  to  Lorenzo  Pier  Francesco  di  Medici,  head  of  his 
firm,  be  in  all  details  strictly  true,  it  curried  such  weight  at  the 
time  to  induce  his  contemporaries  to  baptise  the  newly  discovered 
continent  across  tlie  ocean  as  America^  in  honour  of  the  supposed 
and  alleged  discoverer.  Not  p3rhaps  the  first  or  tlie  last  time  in 
which  the  glory  and  the  profit  of  an  invention  or  discovery  does 
not  revert  to  the  original  inventor  or  discoverer. 

The  portrait  is  a  copy  of  the  famous  alfresco  in  the  family 
tomb  by  Ghirlandaio,  at  Borgognissanti,  Florence,  where  Amerigo 
as  a  youth  is  represented  together  with  the  other  members  of  th© 
family. 


Marquis  ALESSANDRO  MALASPINA. 

Descendant  of  the  ancient  noble  family  of  the  Malaspinas,  for 
many  centuries  established  in  the  Province  of  Carrara,  famous  for 
its  marble  quarries,  his  father  was  the  Marquis  Carlo  Moroello  Ma- 
laspina  of  Mulazzo,  the  hereditary  fief,  his  mother  Caterina  Mali- 
lupi  Soragna  of  Parma.  Born  on  August  30,  1749,  Alessandro  en- 
tered in  his  youth  military  service  at  the  Court  of  Spain,  then 
recurring  to  foreigners  to  uphold  its  tradition  of  military  adven- 
ture. He  ( mbraced  with  enthusiasm  the  naval  career,  early  distin- 
guishing himself  amongst  h's  compeers.  Thus,  after  gaining  bril- 
liantly his  first  promotions  from  ensign  to  lieutenant,  in  the  battle 
between  the  English  and  the  Spanish  fleet 5  in  1778  his  ship  the 
''  San  Julian  "  was  captured  and  an  Engliish  prize  crew  placed  on 
board.  He  took  advantage  of  a  storm  to  incite  his  fellow  prisoners 
to  rise  on  their  conquerors,  turn  the  tables,  and  enter  Seville  in 
triumph  with  the  English  captors  in  captivity.  For  this  act  of 
valour  he  was  created  first  lieutenant. 

On  his  return  from  a  voyage  to  Manilla  and  other  spots  in  the 
Indian  Ocean,  he  was  ordered  on  a  scientific  oxpedition.  Embark- 
ing on  the  frigate  "  Astrea  "  in  1785  from  Cadiz,  rounding  Cape 
Horn  he  landed  at  Lima,  explored  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  passing 


—  11  — 

Tfj  the  Philippines  and  again  by  Cape  Horn,  returned  to  Europe. 
The  results  of  his  voyage  were  considered  extremely  satisfactory, 
he  gaining  by  it  the  promotion  to  Commander  of  a  Line  of  Battle 
Rhip. 

When  Charles  the  III  again  resolved  on  fitting  out  a  new 
exp<  dition  to  the  New  World,  in  order  to  trace  the  ocean  currents, 
discover  yet  unknown  lands,  study  the  Fauna  and  the  Flora  of 
the  new  Continent,  notwithstanding  much  heartburn  among  native 
Span^'sh  Captain?,  jealous  of  any  preference  accorded  to  a  foreigner, 
Malasp'na  was  chosen  commander  of  the  new  venture.  Two  Cor- 
vettes, '^  Scoporta  "  (the  Discoverer)  and  ''  L'Intrepida  "  (The  In- 
trepid), well  armed,  provisioned  for  a  long  journey,  were  provided 
at  the  royal  3xpense.  Whilst  Malaspina  had  the  general  direction 
of  the  enterpr'se,  his  companion,  commander  of  the  second  Cor- 
vette, was  Captain  Bustamante.  A  naturalist,  a  painter  and  an 
architect  sailed  with  them  for  scientific  purposes.  They  started 
from  Cadiz  in  1789,  the  voyage  lasting  five  years. 

After  visiting  the  Isle  of  Trinidad,  they  landed  at  Montevideo, 
explored  the  banks  of  the  Eio  de  la  Plata,  determined  exactly  the 
features  of  the  Patagonian  shore  and  the  Malvina  Islands.  Noting 
the  principal  points  worthy  of  remark  along  the  Chilean  coast, 
they  continued  by  Valparaiso,  Callao,  Guayaquil  and  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  to  Acapulco  in  Mexico,  tarrying  there  to  take  in  neces- 
sary stores.  Sailing  along  the  coast  they  determined  the  position 
of  Mount  S.  Elia  being  the  first  to  discover  Alaska.  Eeturning 
to  Acapulco  they  visited  the  Marian  Islands  and  whilst  the  *'  In- 
trepida  "  went  on  to  Macao,  Malaspina  made  for  the  Philippines, 
where  the  two  again  consorting,  together  with  another  vessel  picked 
up  there,  the  ''  Sottile  ",  sailed  along  the  coast  of  New  Holland, 
from  thence  to  Lima  and  Buenos  Aires,  returning  afterwards  to 
Europe.  ^ 

On  his  return  Malaspina  was  received  by  the  Spanish  Sovereign 
with  honour  and  promotion,  would  have  doubtless  enjoyed  an 
unchequered,  brilliant  career  had  not  intrigues  at  Court,  involving 
male  and  above  all  female  jealousy,*  enabled  the  favourite  and 
prime  Minister,  the  ill  and  justly  ill  famed  Don  Manuel  Godoy,  to 
poison  the  King's  ear,  persecute  and  track  his  supposed  enemy 
down,  finally  order  his  imprisonment  in  the  Castle  of  S.  Antonio 


—  12  — 

dclla  roro;;na,  wliorc  lie  lay  for  ^oviTal  yofirs.  Tie  rccovorod  his 
liberty  when  Lodovico  of  Piinna  asceuded  tho  throne,  returmMl  to 
Italy,  living,  in  peace  and  honour  at  Pontremoli,  where  his  family 
had  greatly  descended  in  riches  and  po.sition.  Though  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  century  Napoleon  named  him  Senator  of  the  central 
Italian  Kingdom,  he  pieferred  quietude,  would  accept  no  office. 
nis  death  took  place  at  the  age  of  sixty  one,  on  the  9  of  April  1810. 


LUIGI  DI  SAVOIA,  DUCA  DEGLI  ABRUZZI. 

The  characteristics  ever  distinguishing  the  House  of  Savoy, 
courage  and  love  of  adventure,  are  admirably  exomplifiod  in  Luigi 
di  Savoia,  Duca  degli  Abruzzi,  son  of  Amadeus,  late  King  of  Spain, 
first  cousin  of  His  Majesty,  Victor  Emanuel  III,  King  of  Italy. 
He  nobly  represents  the  modern  type  of  explorers  and  discoverers, 
who,  from  Marco  Polo  onwards,  navigated  unknown  seas,  sought 
out  unknown  lands,  reflected  glory  on  Mediaeval  Italy. 

The  Duke  was  born  in  Madrid  the  19*''  January  1873,  bom 
whilst  his  young  mother,  Mary  Victoria,  Princess  Pozzo  delta  Ci- 
stema,  was  going  through  moments  of  violent  political  agitation, 
alternatives  of  violence  that  induced  his  father,  Amadeus,  in  his 
straightforward  fealty  to  constitutional  principles,  to  resign  the 
throne  rather  than  recur  to  military  force  in  governing  his  sub- 
jects. 

When  six  years  old  the  boy  was  inscribed  as  sailor  in  the  royal 
Navy ;  at  ten  he  entered  the  naval  Academy,  at  sixteen  passed 
with  honours  his  examination  and  was  entered  midshipman.  During 
this  period  of  boyhood,  besides  gaining  his  fellow  student's  affec- 
tion, he  gave  proof  of  exceptional  capacity  and  diligence ;  alive  to 
a  sentiment  of  duty,  he  did  what  was  appointed  and  did  it  well. 
After  navigating  a  few  years,  in  1890  King  Humbert  named  him 
Duke  of  the  Abruzzi ;  on  his  21«^  year,  together  with  the  other 
Eoyal  Princes,  he  was  called  to  the  Senate. 

Experience  proved  him  to  be  a  skilled  and  trustworthy  sailor, 
calm  and  energetic  in  all  emergencies,  martial  fire  subjected  to 
cool  reflection;  his  desire   to    walk  where  no  man  had  placed   his 


—  13  — 

foot,  explore  the  mysteries  of  hitherto  unknown  regions,  thus 
paying  his  tribute  to  general  and  scientific  knowledge,  soon  devel- 
oped and  took  action. 

When  barely  nineteen  he  began  at  home,  attracted  by  his 
native  Alps.  Between  1892  and  1894  he  not  only  scaled  all  the 
well  known,  but  more  difficult  peaks,  Mont  Blanc,  the  Cervinus, 
Mount  Eosa,  but  the  •'  Dent  du  Geant  ",  the  '*  Aiguilles  sans  nom  ", 
the  "  Aiguille  Verte  ",  the  ''  Eocky  Peak  ",  the  Peak  by  him 
named  after  his  cousin  the  "  Princess  Joland  "  of  the  ''  Dames 
anglaises  " ;  the  latter  four  successfully  scaled,  notwithstanding 
less  fortunate  trials  by  other  well  known  alpinists,  for  the  first 
time. 

After  navigating  for  ten  years,  the  last  two  cruising  round  the 
world,  first  lieutenant  of  the  '^  Cristopher  Columbus  ",  he  obtained  a 
leave  of  absence  ;  it  was  spent,  well  spent,  but  could  hardly  be 
called  a  holiday,  ascending  Mount  8aint  Elia  in  Alaska.  He  left 
Turin  the  17*^^  of  May,  with  his  aide  de  camp.  Cap.  Cagni,  some 
other  companions,  besides  two  trustworthy  alpine  guides,  touched 
at  San  Francisco,  Seattle  and  Port  Mulgrave,  landed  on  the  20ti» 
of  June  at  the  base  of  the  vast  "  Malaspina "  glacier,  there 
to  begin  the  ascent.  Four  expeditions  before  his  had  attempted  un- 
successfully to  gain  the  summit:  in  1886  Captain,  Dr.  Libbey;  in 
1888  Captain,  Dr.  E.  H.  Harold ;  in  1890  and  1891  expeditions 
organised  by  the  United  States  Geographical  Society,  directed  by 
Prof.  Israel  G.  Eussell.  Together  with  the  Duke's  another  venture 
directed  by  Dr.  Buyant  of  Philadelphia,  was  bent  on  the  same 
purpose. 

The  party  started  on  the  l^*  of  July  at  three  a.m.  at  a  temper- 
ature of  barely  2  degrees  above  zero  (Cent.).  Once  negotiated  the 
Malaspina  glacier,  the  Seward  one  rose  before  them.  Once  sur- 
mounted, at  1200  metres  above  sea  level,  the  real  enterprise  began 
at  the  Newton  glacier,  seven  miles  long,  rising  between  sheer  walls 
of  ice  from  1171  to  2731  metres.  Thirteen  days  were  spent  in 
crawling  up.  On  the  summit  the  last  camp  left  them  with  the 
pyramid  of  Saint  Elia  towering  before  their  eyes.  The  30^*^  they 
were  at  3745  metres,  sura  of  siicc8ss,  with  redoubled  eaorgies  they 
continued  the  upward  way,  g  linod  5003  metres  the  morning  of  the 
3l8t,  at  a  quarter  to  twelve  the  sam3  day  planted  the  Italian  Flag 


—  14  — 

on  the  Rummit  of  the  mountain,  5514  metres,  with  a  temperature 
of  12  degrees  below  zero  (Cent.). 


Fired  with  emulatian  at  Peary's  first  attempt  and  Kanson's 
to  reach  the  Pole,  Wrangel's  to  pierce  northwards  in  iSiberia,  his 
second  expedition  was  on  the  *'  Stella  Polare  "  (the  Polar  Star)  a 
whaling  vessel,  fitted  out  with  stores  for  two  years.  The  main 
idea  was  to  proceed  northward  by  water  as  far  the  ice  allowed, 
then  hibernate  and  proceed  onwards  to  the  Pole  with  sledges.  The 
Polar  Star  left  Ohristiania  towards  the  middle  of  June,  embarked 
at  Arcangel  the  dogs,  moved  onwards,  making  its  way  with  dif- 
ficulty through  floes  and  pack  ice  until  it  gained  82.4  latitude,  in 
sight  of  Prince  Eudolpli's  land.  Coastin^f  round  the  island  the 
floes  closed  so  violently  round  the  vessel's  keel  as  tl.ou'^h  she  were 
held  in  a  vice.  No  further  way  by  water  was  possible;  stores  and 
material  were  landed,  a  hut  erected,  every  preparation  for  living 
through  a  polar  winter  made.  It  was  December,  in  the  midst  of 
the  long  Polar  night ;  the  Duke  calculated  to  prepare  men  and 
dogs  for  the  land  struggle  at  the  first  glimpse  of  the  arctic  day  in 
February.  It  was  then,  whilst  he  was  working,  exploring  around, 
in  the  teeth  of  a  bitter  nortli  wind,  that  the  fingers  of  his  right 
hand  were  badly  frostbitten,  so  badly  as  to  necessitate  amputation. 
A  cruel  sorrow,  since  it  debarred  him  from  commanding  those  who 
were  to  pusli  forward  by  land  and  ultimately  reach,  it  was  hoped 
the  North  Pole!  Cagni  was  obliged  to  replace  him.  The  party 
set  out  on  the  11*1^  of  March,  divided  into  three  groups,  two  to 
station  in  various  advanced  points  for  the  victualling  of  the  third. 
About  480  miles  separated  them  from  the  Pole.  Surrounded  by 
always  increasing  difficulties  they  gallantly  struggled  onwards,  do^s 
and  men  worn  out,  until  the  time  when  do. meat  would  have  been 
their  only  food.  They  had  reached  86.33.49  wlien  Cagni,  having  to 
choose  between  perishing  or  turning  back,  sorrowfully  turned  his 
face  south.  The  latitude  reached  was  the  hi:^hest  up  to  then  at- 
tained by  any  previous  expedition.  As  onward,  so  they  had  to 
struggle  back,  amidst  difficulties  and  privations.  In  June  a  suddeii 
thaw  kept  them  prisoners  for  eighty  days  within  sight  of  the  Ba^ 


—  16— . 

of  Tiplitz  ;  after  having  looked  death  in  the  face  many  times,  on 
a  floating  iceberg  they  were  able  to  touch  land,  across  the  bleak 
arctic  continent  rejoin  their  companions,  ha^^gard  and  worn,  the 
emaciated  shadows  of  the  hale  and  muscular  men  who  left  them 
three  months  before ! 

The  Polar  Star  was  literally  dug  out  of  the  surrounding  ice, 
gained  the  open  sea,  on  the  2°^  of  September  entered  Norway's 
extreme  northern  port,  Hammerfest. 


.% 


From  the  Pole  to  the  Tropics  !  This  time,  towerino:  over  Lake 
Albert  Edward,  the  mighty  mountain,  Euwenzori,  in  the  heart  of 
U;[:anda,  tempted  Luigi  di  Savoia's  adventurous  spirit  in  1906. 
Others  had  preceded  him,  none  gained  fully  the  goal  of  their  desire. 
Neither  Sir  Samuel  Baker  in  1864,  nor  Gessi  in  1876,  nor  Sir  H. 
Stanley,  nor  Dr.  Stuhlmann  in  1891,  nor  Scott  Elliot  in  1895,  nor 
Moore,  nor  Sir  H.  Johnston  in  1900,  nor  Dr.  David,  nor  Dou.las 
Fre;hfield  in  1903,  nor  Dr.  Wollaston  and  Fisher,  who  in  the  same 
year  1906,  made  their  attempt  unsuccessfully.  Little  positive  infor- 
mation had  been  gleaned  as  to  the  shape,  structure,  height  of  the 
majestic  mountain,  even  the  supposed  course  of  its  streams,  tribu- 
taries to  the  Nile. 

The  Duke  left  Naples  for  Mombasa  in  company  with  Ca^ni, 
Sella,  his  previous  companions,  his  faithful  alpine  guides,  all  neces- 
sary stores  and  scientific  implements.  They  crossed  Lake  Victoria 
the  7^^  of  May,  arrived  the  29^^  at  Fort  Portal  1530  metres  above 
sea  level,  at  the  base  of  the  mountain  whose  summit  they  hoped 
to  gain.  Without  any  reliable  information  as  to  the  least  difficult 
track,  the  mountain's  side  on  which  they  could  best  cut  out  their 
way,  it  was  a  matter  of  personal  judgement ;  the  Duke's  was  re- 
liable, both  as  a  practised  mountaineer  and  one  who  in  so  many 
difficult  emergencies  had  given  proof  of  being  able  to  cope  with 
them.  He  chose  the  valley  of  Mobuku,  shorter  and  better  known; 
nor  was  he  mistaken,  as  the  sequel  showed.  To  the  left  of  Mobuku 
stretched  a  vast  surface  shut  in  by  the  mountain,  grading  upwards; 
they  ascertained  it  afterwards  to  be  the  hollow  through  which  tho 


—  16  — 

river  Bujuku  had  dusj  its   course,   descending  directly   from  the 
summit  of  the  Ruwonzori. 

In  accordance  with  the  established  plan,  on  the  7*^^  of  June 
they  camped  at  Bujouuolo  3798  metres  above  sea  level;  the  sub- 
sequent days  were  spent  by  the  Duke  in  prospecting  the  territory 
around,  and  coming  to  a  final  decision  as  to  how  they  should 
circumvent  the  mass  that  in  stupendous  majesty  raised  its  head 
before  them.  On  the  15t»»  of  June,  with  two  guides,  two  Italian 
carriers,  five  native  ones,  the  Duke,  descending  to  the  extremity 
of  the  Buta2:u  valley,  facing  north,  ascended  Mount  Scott  EUiott 
between  M.  Baker  and  M.  Speke,  camping  at  4516  metres  on  the 
rocks  overlying  the  Elena  Glacier.  The  morning  of  the  18"»  the 
ascent  was  resumed,  at  11.30  the  Duke  had  the  satisfaction  of 
pi;  nting  the  Italian  flag  in  the  snow,  on  the  summit  of  the  highest 
peak  of  the  Ruwenzori,  by  him  named  Peak  Margherita,  at  an 
altitude  of  5125  metres.  To  the  mount  on  which  it  rose,  he  gave 
the  name  of  Stanley,  the  celebrated  explorer,  its  first  discoverer. 


There  was  only  one  other  ascent  loft  to  tempt  the  bold  and 
hardy  explorer,  tliat  of  the  Hymalaya,  tlie  succession  of  giant 
crests  raising  themselves  between  8  and  9000  metres  above  sea 
level.  In  the  Karakorum  chain,  that  of  the  upper  Hymalaya,  the 
K2,  also  known  as  Chogori,  had  been  attempted,  in  vain  attempted, 
rising  as  it  does  to  8610  metres,  by  bold  spirits,  practised  moun- 
taineers. A  sufficient  reason  for  trying  where  so  many  others  had 
failed,  though  the  difficulties  of  the  mountain  itself  were  doubled  by 
those  attaining  the  rarified  atmospliere  at  such  extreme  heights. 
Still,  if  one  could  hardly  dare  to  hope  absolute  success,  there  was 
al.vays  reasonable  certitude  of  notable  results  from  a  scientific 
point  of  view. 

As  usual  the  Duke  was  accompanied  by  Sella  and  De  Filippi, 
besides  his  aide  do  camp,  Marquis  Negro tto  and  the  usual  faithful 
alpine  guides.  Tiie  expedition  reached  Bombay  on  the  9*^  of  April, 
on  the  17^**  Shrinagar  in  the  Cashmere  Valley.  From  thence,  by 
devious  vNays,  to  Askoley,  a  village  3000  metres  above  sea  level, 
the  14***  of  May.    Skirting  the  Balton  glacier.  Mount  Chogori  lay 


—  17  — 

before  them;  fliey  camped  on  the  glacier  at  5000  metres.  The 
followin;.>'  days  were  as  usual  devoted  to  prospecting  and  determining 
the  track.  They  then  proceeded  onwards,  but  at  5500  metres  the 
excessively  friable  rock  entailed  cutting  steps  and  with  the  utmost 
efforts  in  two  days  barely  two  hundred  metres  were  gained.  It 
was  no  use  goinj  further,  but  loth  to  renounce,  the  Duke  with 
Sella  made  an  extreme  effort.  They  gained  the  Bride  Peak  at 
5470  metres,  went  upwards  to  5800  the  9^^  j^iy^  the  11*^  to  6604; 
on  the  12'^  they  attempted  to  gain  the  summit,  but  at  7100  metres 
could  go  no  further;  on  the  17^^  their  last  effort  took  them  to 
7493  metres;  no  further  upwards  could  their  strength  in  the  rari- 
fied  atmosphere  carry  them.  It  was  enough  and  a  gallant  feat 
indeed ! 


* 

The  Duke  is  now  Admiral  in  chief  of  our  !N'avy;  no  man  en- 
joyed or  enjoys  greater  confidence  in  the  fleet  and  in  the  nation. 
Of  his  seamanship  he  has  given  abundant  proof,  whereby  as  a 
seaman  he  ranks  among  the  best  for  knowledge  and  judgement, 
as  an  explorer  for  his  discoveries,  his  grit,  his  dogged  resolve.  What 
he  is  and  what  he  has  done  place  him  foremost  amongst  those 
who  have  contributed  to  a  more  complete  knowledge  of  our  globe; 
he  may  w  ell  be  entitled  to  an  honoured  place  as  one  who  has  been 
and  is  the  worthy  successor  of  the  illustrious  men  who  in  the  same 
field  shed  glory  on  Italy  in  the  past. 


HUMAN    PIONEERS. 

DANTE  ALIGHIERI. 

Rome  few,  very  few  figures  stand  out  against  the  horizon  of 
time,  ever  iissumin^  loftier  proportions  as  years  roll  on,  generations 
succeed  <.enerations.  Dwarfed  whilst  living  amongst  hi^h  born, 
high  placed  contemporaries,  they   ever  grow  in  men's  minds  and 


—  18  — 

men's  souls  whilst  their  supposed  great  superiors  return  to  dust 
and  oblivion. 

Tlius  among  poets,  tlie  idealisers  of  the  present,  the  visualisers 
of  the  future.  Homer,  myth  or  man,  among  Greeks,  Virgil  among 
Romans,  Shakespeare  amon;,'  Anglo-Saxons,  Goethe  among  Teutons, 
Dante  among  Italians  are  suns  that  never  set.  Their  tliought  is 
human,  their  teachings  world  wide,  as  from  the  lofty  height  of 
their  genius  they  soar  above  the  multitudes,  unconscious  of  time 
or  space ! 

Dante  —  the  famiharity  of  Florentine  speech  shortening  the 
original  Durante  —  Alighieri  was  born  in  Florence  of  noble  family 
at  Borgo  degli  Albizi  in  the  year  1265,  bom  unto  the  world's 
scene  in  one  of  the  most  troublous  times  of  the  Italian  Renaissance, 
when  State  against  State,  Republic  a;ainst  Republic,  Party  against 
Party,  in  the  speedy  shifting  of  scenes  and  events,  raised  each 
man's  hand  against  his  neighbour.  Noble  though  they  were,  the 
Alighieri  belonged  to  the  Guelfs,  in  continual  conflict  with  the 
Ghibellinos,  the  two  parties  who  disputed  power  and  government 
in  the  Florentine  Republic.  So  much  so  that  Dante,  when  barely 
twenty  five,  foug.t  in  the  stricken  field  at  Campaldino  a;;ainst  the 
rival  party,  enjoying  then,  not  an  earnest  of  the  future,  the  sweets 
of  victory. 

Precocious  in  sentiment  as  in  mind,  when  ten  years  of  age  he 
saw  the  daughter  of  Folco  Poitinari,  Beatrix,  conceived  then  for 
her  the  mystic  passion  that  influenced  his  thoughts,  sentiments 
and  utterances,  perhaps  transformed  the  studious  thinker  into  the 
Poet. 

Deeply  he  delved  into  the  lore  of  the  Roman  poets,  of  the 
moralists,  of  the  philosophers,  imbuing  his  mind  with  Aristo- 
telic  wisdom.  The  scoliasts,  the  fathers  of  the  Church,  natural 
sciences,  nothing-  came  amiss  in  his  insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge, 
of  w  hich  his  minor  works  and  his  great  poem  give  ample  evidence. 

The  entrancing  vision  of  his  boyhood  and  youth,  Beatrix,  mar- 
ried towards  1287  Simone  de  Bardi,  closing  her  earthly  career  in 
June  1290,  to  live  immortal  in  the  Poet's  soul,  an  embodiment  of 
beauteous  virtue  for  future  generations. 

Two  years  afterwards,  deferring  to  the  constant  wishes  and 
exhortations  of  family  and  friends,  he  married  Gemma  Donati,  the 


—  19  — 

head  of  whose  family,  Corso  Donati,  was  afterwards  to  become  his 
constant  enemy.  It  was  a  peaceful  union,  so  far  as  one  knows, 
had  issue  in  several  children,  amono:  whom  a  daughter  Beatrix ; 
but  though  he  will  have  cared  for  his  wife,  though  it  is  affirmed 
that  he  entertained  an  affection  for  two  other  women  in  later  life, 
nothing  obliterated  from  the  poet's  mind  and  heart  tlie  memory  of 
Beatrix,  the  love  of  his  youth. 

Amon;'  the  various  guilds  in  which  the  able  men  of  the  city 
were  parcelled  out,  he  elected  to  join  that  of  the  apothecaries  and 
took  a  notable  part  in  public  life,  too  notable  for  his  prosperity 
or  happiness.  Between  1293  and  1297  he  was  sent  ambassador  to 
Naples  and  to  other  Eepublics  in  Tuscany,  but  matters  were  not 
to  run  smoothly  for  long.  Towards  the  end  of  the  century  the 
dominating  Guelf  party  split  up  into  two  factions.  Whites  and 
Blacks.  The  Blacks,  headed  by  Corso  Donati,  had  the  support  of 
the  Pope  Boniface  the  VIII  who  did  his  best  to  encourage  discord 
and  thus  gain  more  complete  ascendancy,  whilst  D.mte  was  a 
follower  of  the  Whites.  At  the  time  he  had  been  elected  one  of 
the  six  governing  priors  of  the  Eepublic,  and  in  detence  of  law 
Mnd  order  the  government  condemned  to  temporary  exile  the  heali 
C'i  both  Whites  and  Blacks,  the  Blacks  more  severely  puniiih^d, 
tor  having  come  into  open  conflict  and  bloodshed  within  the  town. 
The  Blacks  recurred  to  Eome;  Dante  as  ambassador  was  sent  to 
neutralise  their  efforts  and  plead  the  government  cause  in  which 
he  was  successful.  Again  within  a  short  time,  when  Charles  of 
Yalois,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  crossed  the  Alps,  he  returns 
to  Eome  to  avert  any  danger;  but  this  time  to  find  Pope  and 
Prince  leagued  together,  the  latter  invested  with  the  mission  of 
promoting  peace  in  Florence.  And  so  he  did  after  a  fashion,  by 
entering  the  town,  taking  unto  himself  tlie  power  of  Dictator  and 
of  proclaiming  martial  law.  The  Blacks  then  entered  in  force, 
together  with  the  dictator  passed  julg;nent  on  the  absent  or 
fugitive  prior?,  condemnin;  th^m  to  perpetual  cxil  3  and  confisca- 
tion of  their  estates.  The  exiled  Wli'.tes  tried  to  i^ather  head,  col- 
lected an  army,  marched  on  Florence,  were  not  only  unable  to 
force  an  entrance,  but  suffered  utter  collapse  and  defe.tt. 

^    Dante's  exile,  his  lon,^  exile,  only    to    (nd    with  his  life,   thus 
began.    First  at   Verona    with   Bartholomew   dclla  :^.cala,  then  at 


—  20-, 

Padua,  then  to  the  convent  of  the  Avellana  among  the  hills  of  the 
Tuscan  Cascntino,  from  thence  to  the  Malaspina's  in  the  Luni/iana 
and  on  to  Lombardy,  hoping,  vainly  hoping  in  the  influence  and 
power  of  the  new  Emperor  Henry  the  VII  to  subjugate*  his  native 
city.  Afterwards  Lucca,  Ravenna,  again  with  Can  della  Scala  in 
Verona;  then  he  took  upon  his  shoulders  the  heavy  pack,  unsuc- 
cessfully striving,  wandering  in  Franco,  in  England,  in  the  Tyrol, 
to  return  again  to  Ravenna,  exiled  in  all,  in  all  despondent,  even 
in  hope,  and  there,  at  the  age  of  fifty  six,  in  September  1321, 
breathed  his  last. 

Dante  cannot  be  simply  considered  as  a  great  poet,  who  gave 
a  definite  form  to  the  Italian  language,  and  with  wealth  of  phan- 
tasy and  images  carries  his  readers  on  with  him  in  his  voyage 
through  the  three  reigns  -  Hell,  Purgatory  and  Heaven  -  ordained, 
he  supposes,  by  the  Almighty  as  the  just  outcome  of  man's  earthly 
career.  He  is  more,  much  more  than  that,  otherwise  he  would  not 
stand  alone. 

The  power  of  genius,  of  piercing  the  clouds  of  the  future  and 
the  hearts  of  men  to  reveal  unto  them  their  duly  here  below  is 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  separating  him  from  his  apparent 
equals.  It  inspires  all  his  works  in  prose  and  poetry,  welds  them 
into  one  harmonic  expression  of  thought :  he  is  one,  a  powerful 
and  tremendous  unity. 

The  idea  bom  in  early  years,  confirmed  in  his  weary  pilgrim- 
age through  the  many  and  various  States  into  which  a  people 
of  common  origin,  of  common  language,  of  common  aims  in  life 
was  split  up,  is  the  prophetic  cry  for  Italian  Unity,  the  prophetic 
vision  of  its  consummation  in  the  future. 

Politically  it  transpires  in  the  «  De  Monarchia  »;  philosophi- 
cally in  the  «  Convito  »,  Avhilst  the  «  Lingua  volgare  »  illustrates 
it  on  behalf  of  Literature.  Above  all  the  great  Poem,  the  «  Di- 
vina  Commedia  »  soars,  raised  on  the  wings  of  the  ever  present 
aspiration.  Dante  was  and  is  the  incarnation  of  our  Fatherland ; 
his  poem  elaborates  a  national  Language,  a  national  Philosophy, 
a  national  Poetry;  linking  real  and  ideal,  heaven  and  earth,  a 
national  Faith  ! 

Whilst  among  the  three  regions  of  the  Comedy,  in  Hell  ho 
portrays  human  nature  as  it  reveals  itself  in  those  senxibarbarous 


—  21  — 

times,  violent  and  heroic ;  in  Purgatory  the  theme  revolves  on 
literature^,  tine  arts,  reigning  sovereigns,  laws  and  customs  then 
prevalent:  finally  Paradise  is  devo'cd  to  Faith,  religion  as 
it  was. 

Above  Popes,  above  Kings,  poets  and  learned  men,  Dante 
stands,  not  only  our  national  poet,  the  father  of  our  tongue ;  he 
was  the  model  patriot,  the  ardent  reformer,  the  religious  apostle, 
the  Prophet  of  the  ]S"ation  ! 

«  Yes,  truly,  it  is  a  great  thing  for  a  Nation  that  it  get  an  arti- 
culate voice:  that  it  produce  a  man  who  will  speak  forth  melo- 
di'jusly  what  the  heart  of  it  moans!  Italy,  for  example,  poor 
Italy  lies  dismembered,  scattered  asunder,  not  appearing  in  any 
protocol  or  treaty  as  a  unity  at  all;  yet  the  noble  Italy  is  actually 
one.  Italy  produced  its  Dxnte,  Italy  can  speak! »  Oarlyle:  on  Heroes , 
Hero  Worshipj  etc.  The  Hero  as  Poet, 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI. 


Leonardo  da  Vinci,  whose  universal  genius  has  left  a  deep 
furrow  in  the  fields  of  both  art  and  science,  great  as  a  painter, 
sculptor  and  musician,  great  as  a  mechanician,  civil  engineer  and 
philosopher,  scientist,  and  artist,  was  born  at  Vinci,  a  villafje  on 
the  Florentine  hills,  in  1452,  out  of  wedlock,  son  of  Catherine  a 
peasant  and  a  Florentine  lawyer,  who  from  the  family  estate  took 
the  name  of  Piero  da  Vinci.  Though  he  was  married  several 
times,  had  from  his  wives  numerous  progeny,  the  father  acknow- 
ledged his  son,  had  him,  as  thou.crh  a  legiMmate  scion,  properly 
brought  up  and  properly  educated  among  his  other  children.  A 
youth  of  rare  promise,  physical'y  attractive,  charming  in  man- 
ners, he  not  only  easily^  mistered  all  accomplishnimts,  but 
gave  proof  of  inexhaustible  intellec'ual  range  and  energy.       « 

^  Drawing,  modelling,  music  were  among  his  first  pursni'  s. 
Placed  by  his  father  with  Andrea  Verrocchio  as  master,  in  a  few 
years  he  surpassed  him  as  was  acknowledged  by  the  master  him- 
self, when  obliged  to  compare   with   his   own   his    pupil's  part  of 


-  22  — 

the  work  in  Christ's  Baptism,  the  fresco  executed  for  the  monks 
of  Vallombrosa,  now  in  the  Eoyal   Academy   of  Florence. 

But  not  only  in  the  fine  arts,  in  painting:,  sculpture,  music, 
even  poetry,  he  stood  unrivalled  among  his  compeers;  his  faculty 
of  observation,  his  thirst  for  knowledge,  his  aptitude  in  bringing 
it  to  bear  on  some  i)ractical  pursuit,  incited  him  to  the  master* 
ing  of  exact  science,  to  the  explanation  of  many  problems 
hitherto  unsolved,  to  their  application  in  surmounting  the  obsta- 
cles opposed  by  nature  to  man's  well  being.  Encyclopedic  genius, 
rival  of  Michelangelo  and  EaffaoUo  in  the  fine  arts,  by  them 
envied  and  persecuted,  he  proved  himself  at  the  same  time  su- 
perior to  all  the  philosophers  and  scientists  of  his  age. 

His  discoveries  enlarged  the  domains  of  military  art,  prac- 
tical and  theoretical  mechanics,  hydraulics,  astronomy,  geometry, 
physics,  natural  science,  anatomy  and  even  music.  He  explains 
the  theory  of  inclined  plains,  the  centre  of  gravity  in  solids,  as 
exemplified  in  the  gravity  of  pyramids  ;  in  mechanics  he  calculates 
the  effect  of  friction  by  means  of  a  series  of  ingenious  experi- 
ments ;  he  demonstrates  rationally  the  impossibility  of  perpetual 
motion,  of  squaring  a  circle.  In  hydraulics  he  is  the  first  to 
found  a  theory  of  the  wave  motion,  of  the  currents,  of  the  sin- 
gular forms  of  liquid  strata,  origin  of  so  many  important  recent 
discoveries.  Practically  in  canal' sing  Lombardy  he  is  the  first  to 
discover  and  adopt  locks,  without  which  no  Panama  canal  could 
have  been  projected.  In  geology  he  is  the  first  to  direct  his  atten- 
tion to  fossil  animals  and  plants,  the  first  to  propose  a  systematic 
division  and  classification  of  the  animal  kingdom.  He  applies  the 
hydrometer  in  meteorology,  invents  a  dinamometer  to  calculate  ma- 
chine power.  He  observes  the  weight,  resistance,  condensation  of 
the  air  to  explain  the  aerial  ascent  of  matter  and  the  cloud  for- 
mation ;  as  also  he  is  supposed  to  have  first  determined  the  re- 
gular shapes  and  cohesion  of  sand  on  vibrating  elastic  surfaces, 
whereby  preceding  by  three  centuries  Chladni.  He  studies  the 
ways  in  which  a  man  would  be  enabled  to  raise  himself  in  the  air, 
models  aeroplanes,  gives  to  the  world  many  important  anatomical 
and  mechanical  discoveries  regarding  the  flight  of  birds. 

Numerous  are  his  theories  and  practical  appliances  for  substi* 
tuting   mechanical   to  human  work.     He   was  the  first  to  apply 


—  23  — 

alpliabe'ical  signs  an:l  those  of  +  and  —  in  algebra:  he  mastered  geo- 
metry and  profited  by  its  application  to  mechanics,  perspective 
and  the  theory  of  shadows.  Long  before  Copernic  he  treats  of  the 
earth's  motion,  is  the  first  to  explain  the  bluish  light  of  the  moon 
and  otlier  curious  optical  illusions.  A  sound  theory  of  light  partly 
founded  on  the  Camera  Obscura,  general  principles  on  capillary 
action  and  diffraction,  the  first  and  most  scientific  notions  and 
applications  of  the  power  of  steam  belong  to  his  unrivalled  ge- 
nius !  A  century  before  Galileo  and  Bacon,  whilst  the  learned 
sought  no  furtlicr  than  ancient  lore,  Leonardo  applied  the  light 
of  rational  criticism  and  individual  research,  in  almost  every 
branch  of  science,  to  explain  and  utilise  the  phenomena  of  nature  ! 

Leonardo  Avas  the  first  painter  to  recognise  the  play  of  light 
and  shade  in  the  appearance  and  beauty  of  animate  and  inani- 
mate nature;  the  fi:St  to  calculate  their  value  in  the  various 
branches  of  art.  Neither  did  he  stop  in  his  observations  at  mere 
superficial  appearance :  stamping  the  image  of  things  on  his  brain, 
he  went  on  untiringly  to  investigate  their  hidden  laws  and  causes. 
It  is  no  wonder  if,  notwithstanding  continual  importunate  requests 
for  artistic  wo:k  from  the  most  important  princes  and  individuals 
of  the  day,  his  canvasses  and  other  wo  ks  of  avt  should  have 
been  few  compared  wi^h  other  artists  and  the  favour  by  which 
he  was  surrounded. 

If  1491  was,  for  ins'ance,  a  momentous  year  in  Italian  politics, 
when  Ludovico  Sorza,  Duke  of  Milan,  intrigued  with  Charles 
the  VIII  of  France,  whereby  bringing  on  successive  invasions  of 
Italy,  it  may  give  an  adequate  idea  of  Leonardo's  life,  since  in 
that  year  he  was  fo:  several  months  absent  from  Milan  planning 
and  directing  extensive  works  for  impoving  the  irrigation  and 
water  ways  of  the  adjacent  Lomellina ;  he  was  canying  out  at  the 
same  time,  with  his  friend  Donato  Bramante,  designs  for  improv- 
ing and  embc'Uisliing  the  Castle,  the  Ducal  Palace ;  in  between 
wliiles  he  was  working  expeditiously  at  what  proved  to  be  his 
greatest  painting,  the  «  Last  Supper  »,  at  the  Convent  of  Santa 
Maria  delle  Grazie,  recognisiHl  ever  since  as  the  typical  and  great- 
est representation  of  the  sol  mn  Biblical  scene.  Few  other  pictures 
are  to  beascribr^d  to  his  sivteen  y3ars  residence  in  Milan,  1483-149G, 
but  his  canal  and  ir.  igation  work  last  to  the  present  day ! 


—  24  — 

And  80  onward  in  his  career.  He  settles  in  Florence,  under- 
takes there  a  battle  piece  to  adorn  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  subse- 
quently abandoned  through  an  unsuccessful  new  process  he  essayed 
in  encaustic,  besides  taking  up  and  finishing  the  wonderful  world 
famed  portrait  of  Monna  Lisa,  the  wife  of  Zanobi  del  Giocondo, 
known  therefore  as  «  La  Gioconda  ».  Meanwhile  he  travels  with 
Cesare  Borgia  through  central  Italy  as  his  chief  engineer.  From 
Florence  back  again  to  Milan  in  1511,  from  there  to  Rome,  from 
"Rome  in  1514  to  France  honored  guest  of  Francis  the  Tst  at  the 
Castle  of  Cloux  near  Amboise,  enjoying  a  handsome  pension. 
There  on  Easter  Eve  1519,  feeling  near  his  end,  he  made  his  will 
and  died  on  the  subsequent  2"<^  of  May. 

In  the  splendid  balance  of  his  nature  the  powers  he  most 
cared  to  exercise  ceased  by  degrees  to  be  those  of  imaginative 
creation  and  became  those  of  turning  to  human  use  the  mastery 
gained  over  the  forces  of  nature. 

The  man  however  who  carried  in  his  brain  so  many  images 
of  subtile  beauty,  as  well  as  so  much  of  the  hidden  science  of  the 
future,  must  have  lived  spiritually  alone,  though  communicative, 
a  genial  companion,  a  generous  and  loyal  friend,  ready  and  elo- 
quent of  address,  impressing  all  with  whom  he  was  brought  into 
contact  by  the  power  and  the  charm  of  genius,  inspiring  fervent 
devotion  and  attachment  in  friends  and  pupils.  Full  of  tender- 
ness to  animals,  open  handed  in  giving,  not  eager  in  getting,  he 
stands  alone  in  his  century  and  for  subsequent  ones  in  the 
majesty  of  virtuous  genius,  conscious  of  its  power,  forgetful  of 
self,  striving  for  humanity. 


MICHELANGELO. 

When  one  stands  with  reverent  admiration  before  V.io  gigantic 
figures  immortalised  in  the  «  Universal  Judgement  »  or  the  «  Moses  » 
imagination  casts  the  author  in  the  same  mould,  a  man  of  thews 
and  sinews,  of  noble,  majestic  proportions,  in  harmony  ^ith  his 
marvellous  creations.  It  is  not  so ;  besides  being  undersized 
Michelangelo  was  slightly  hunchbacked.     He  is  contemporary  with 


^26  — 

the  revival  of  art,  at  the  time  of  the  Medicis,  bom  in  Florence  in 
1475,  a  descendant  of  the  noble  family  of  the  Counts  Canossa. 
He  learnt  drawing  in  the  studio  of  the  renowned  Michael  Ghir- 
landaio,  but  when  Lorenzo  dei  Medici  founded  a  school  for  sculp- 
ture and  numbered  him  among  the  pupils,  that  art,  in  which 
he  so  soon  excelled,  became  the  prevailing  passion  of  his  life. 

In  those  times  men  when  born  with  talent,  were  not  special- 
ists, devoting  their  whole  time  and  life  in  the  practical  or  scien- 
tific opening  up  of  one  branch  of  knowledge;  they  ranged  fur- 
ther afield,  they  broadened  their  intellect,  instead  of  shar- 
pening it,  became  on  the  whole  bigger  men  than  our  up  to  date 
workers. 

Though  scientifically  greatly  inferior  to  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
Michelangelo's  pursuits,  painter,  poet,  sculptor,  engineer,  archi- 
tect, were  not  only  various,  but  in  each  one  he  left  undying 
tokens  of  his  versatile  genius. 

In  1494  the  Medicean  star,  that  had  long  shone  on  art,  sank 
below  the  horizon.  Lorenzo's  successor,  Piero,  through  frivolous 
ill  government  exasperated  the  population  who  drove  him  from 
Florence.  The  young  artist,  known  as  a  Medicean  protege,  betook 
himself  to  IJologna  where  he  executed  a  couple  of  statues  for 
the  Domenican  Church  and  then,  after  a  year's  absence,  was  able 
to  return  to  his  native  city,  where  he  modelled  his  famous  « sleep- 
ing Cupid ».  It  was  sent  to  Eome,  there  exhibited  as  a  recently 
discovered  ancient  Greek  work  of  art,  was  universally  admired, 
bougiit  at  a  high  price  by  Cardinal  San  Giorgio.  The  fraud  was 
short  lived,  the  author  discovered  and  it  greatly  added  to  his 
budding  reputation ;  so  much  so  that  the  deceiw'.d  purchaser,  the 
Cardinal,  in  sincere  admiration  of  the  work  and  its  author,  called 
him  to  Eome  (1496).  From  that  moment,  with  an  establised  repu 
tation,  his  long  life  alternated  between  his  native  city  and  the  great 
universal  centre  of  religious  art. 

The  Florentine  administration  decided  to  decorate  the  city 
with  some  colossal  marble  statues ;  a  huge  block  had  been  worked 
upon  by  Simone  di  Fiesole,  with  the  desi;n  of  fashioning  it  into 
a  giant,  but  he  gave  up,  despairing  at  the  giant  task,  beyond  his 
artistic  poAcr.  Mic'ielanclo  heard  of  it,  came  from  Eome,  took 
upon  himself  botn  mutilated  marble  ^n^  work:   saw  the  way  to 


—  ce  - 

utilise  the  material  in  hand,  and,  sliapin?  the  stone  according?  to 
his  o.n  design,  evolved  liis  David,  affirmed  by  Vasari  to  be  supe- 
rior to  any  statue,  ancient  or  modern,  Greek  or  Latin  ! 

The  Mayor,  Pier  Sode  ini,  not  content  with  t!ie  work  of  Mi- 
chelangelo's scalpel,  was  desirous  to  obtain  also  some  from  his 
brush ;  assi  ;ned  him  part  of  the  great  communal  Hall  in  Palazzo 
Vecchio,  Leonardo  da  Vinci  had  engaged  to  decorate.  He  thou  ;ht 
out  a  subject  bearing  on  the  wars  between  Florence  and  Pisa, 
prepared  the  cartoons,  greatly  superior,  said  Benvenuto  Cellini  his 
sc'iolar,  to  t'lose  of  the  Six  tine  Cl.apel.  The  work  was  not  carried 
out,  the  cartoon  in  the  bustlin,'  here  and  there  soon  destroyed, 
beyond  some  fra-m3ntary  particulars.  The  artist  was  then  barely 
twenty  nine,  had  already  not  only  attained  a  preeminent  position 
in  a:t,  but  had  revolutionised  art  itself,  by  the  boldness  of  his 
conceptions,  his  religious  fidelity  to  nature. 

Julius  the  II"'^,  recently  elevated  to  the  Papal  Chair,  whose 
ener.etic  martial  nature  resembled  in  no  slight  degree  the  fiery 
sculptor's,  admiring  his  lofty  conceptions,  invited  him  to  come  to 
Rome,  design  and  construct  his  future  tomb.  According  to  the 
sculptor's  project  it  would  have  been  the  greatest  monumental 
sepulcre  in  the  world.  vSaint  Peter's  was  modified  and  enlar  ed, 
attained  its  present  artistic  grand:'ur  and  beauty,  to  make  room 
for  it.  But  it  was  never  completed ;  between  one  thing  and 
anot'ier,  more  urgent  work  ordered  by  the  Pope,  jealous  intrigues 
of  PTC.  itects  and  artists  anxious  to  emerge,  the  enormous  expense 
entailed  by  the  four  marble  facades  decorated  with  forty  statues 
and  bas  reliefs  in  bronze,  all  conspired  to  monthly,  yearly  delay, 
until,  after  the  death  of  Julius,  and  Ms  successors  Leo  the  X*^  and 
Adrian  the  VP^,  Clemens  the  VII^*^  arranged  for  the  greatly 
reduced  design  that,  with  the  immortal  figure  of  Moses,  adorns 
the  church  of  Saint  Peter  in  Vincoli  in  Eome. 

Whilst  the  great  artist  v  as  en.  aged  on  Julius's  tomb,  perhaps 
by  Bramante's  desire  to  remove  a  rcdoutable  lival  from  the  ar- 
chitectural work  in  Saint  Peter,  he  w  as  called  upon  to  paint  the 
walls  and  the  dome  of  the  Sixtine  Chapel.  Unable  to  refuse, 
though  his  heart  was  in  the  projected  temb,  he  shut  himself  up 
and  in  twenty  months  completed  his  admirable  work  of  the  Crea- 
tion,   in  its   twelve   separate  compartments.     It   was   universally 


—  27  — 

admired  and  lauded  by  artists  and  all  who  saw  if,  soon  afte  wa^^ds 
to  be  capped  by  the  greatest,  most  powerful  fresco  painting  ihe 
world  possesses,  the  Universal  Judgement,  began  in  1534,  not 
completed  until  1541. 

Michelangelo  had  more  than  once  returned  to  Florence, 
planned  and  directed  the  fortifications  on  the  surrounding  hills,  by 
the  celebrated  French  military  engineer,  Vauban,  subsequently 
visited  and  copied.  He  also  completed  the  designs  for  the  recon- 
struction of  the  mediaeval  Eoman  Capitol  and  the  adjoining  Piazza; 
constructed  the  Farnese  Palace  in  Eome,  perhaps,  in  its  grand  sim- 
plicity of  design,  the  most  perfect  existing.  In  Florence  he  erected 
the  Chapel  of  the  Medici,  with  Lorenzo's  and  Julian's  tombs  and 
the  celebrated  recumbent  statue  of  Night  about  which  an  admirer 
wrote  the  noted  couple  ts  : 

La  notte  che  tu  vedi  in  si  dolci  atti 
Dormire,  fu  da  un  angelo  scolpita 
In  questo  sasso ;  e  henche  dorma,  ha  vita; 
Destalaj  se  nol  credi,  e  ijarleratti. 

In  a  free  translation  with  this  meaning ; 

TJie  nigJit  thou  seest  so  sweetly  sleeping 
Was  ly  an  angel  (play  on  the  word  angelo) 
out  of  this  stone  enticed 
Should'st  disbelieve,  awake  her,  she'll  spealc. 

The  artist  patriot,  alive  to  the  woes  his  native  city  was  un- 
dergoing, through  malpractises  and  malgovernment,  capped  the 
verses  admirably : 

Grato  m'e  il  sonno  e  piu  Vesser  di  sasso 
Finche  il  danno  e  la  vergogna  dura. 
Non  veder,  non  sentir,  m'd  gran  ventura ; 
Percid  non  mi  destar ;   deh  !  parla  basso. 

Blessed  he  sleep,  nay  more,  to  he  of  stone 
Whilst  woe  and  shame  prevail.  : 

To  see  not,  to  hear  not,  Vis  heaven's  own  boon;  ^'• 

Leave  me  to  slumber ;   pray  I  raise  not  thy  voice. 

He  lived  on  in  his  hale  old  age,  working  untiringly  at  Saint 
Peter's,  until  his  death,  at  89,  on  the  18t>»  of  February  1564.    He 


—  28  — 

was  buiied  with  much  solemnity  and  great  honours  in  the  Cliurch 
of  the  SS.  Apostoli  in  Rome. 

As  his  works  attest,  in  art,  in  painting,  sculpture,  architecture, 
Michelangelo  stands  alone,  has  had  no  equal  in  ancient  or  in 
modern  times.  Energetic,  occasionally  to  violence,  susceptible  to 
personal  dignity  up  to  the  point  of  leaving  Eome,  betaking  him- 
self to  Florence,  never  stirring  until  Julius,  after  repeated  letters 
of  entreaty,  came  all  the  way  to  Bologna  to  waylay  his  cherished 
artist,  simply  because  the  Pope  had  left  unanswered  two  press- 
ing requests  for  audience,  the  virtue  of  his  character  gained  him 
universal  respoct  and  affection.  He  was  good  and  charitable, 
courteous  in  manner,  free  of  hand,  modest,  so  modest  as  never  to 
find  complete  satisfaction  in  his  work,  ever  studying  to  better 
it :  above  all  in  sterling  probity  second  to  none.  He  was,  as  it 
were,  one  of  those  perfect  diamonds,  that,  from  time  to  time,  are 
discovered  amons^  human  clay,  reflect  lustre  on  all  around  and 
are  without  a  flaw. 


GALILEO  GALILEL 

Were  it  not  for  some  not  uninteresting  details,  it  would  be 
superfluous  to  summarise  the  life  of  the  man  who  discovered  and 
fixed  definitely  among  acquired  facts  the  earth's  motion  round  the 
sun.  In  our  times  when  an  enquiring  mind  dares  to  set  forth  a 
scientific  or  philosophic  theory  in  contradiction  with  the  acknow- 
ledged enciclop('dia,  when  he  daros  to  assert  a  new  truth  upset- 
ting the  even  balance  of  men's  belief,  a  hue  and  cry  rise  up 
against  the  avowed  heterodoxy ;  the  bold  asserter  is  persecuted, 
tortured,  set  on  the  rack  of  i)ublic  opinion,  whilst  learned 
assemblies  apply  the  thumbscrews  of  scorn  and  ridicule;  in 
Galileo's  tim?.  moral  torture  was  not  forgotten,  only  physical 
supplemented  it.  The  sun  had  revolved  round  the  earth  according 
to  Holy  Writ  ever  since  creation,  so  had  it  been  ordained  by 
the  Alnii.^hty  ;  to  whom  dared  q-iestion  the  undoubted  sacred  truth 
,.pnly  a ;. Heretic's  lot  could  be  portioned  out,  confinement  and  tor- 
ture, until  he  saw  the  error  of  his  ways,  humbly  recanting.    Thus 


—  29  — 

the  sage  who  had  put  beyond  doubt  the  law  of  gravitation,  was 
arrested,  cast  into  prison,  would  have  been  tortured,  had  not  the 
executioner's  presence,  the  fear  of  unsupportable  pain,  induced 
physical  weakness  to  admit  the  fallacy  he  had  pilloried  and 
recognise  the  error  of  his  ways  in  rectifying  sacred  superstitions. 
An  old  man,  he  made  the  confession  wrung  from  him,  but  no 
sooner  had  the  words  left  his  mouth  than  the  inner  and  stronger 
man  could  no  longer  bear  suppression  and  exclaimed :  «  yet  it  is 
so ;  the  earth  does  revolve  round  the  sun  »  I  The  rack  con- 
firmed the  bible's  accuracy  against  trifling  mathematical  argu- 
ments ! 

Galileo's  was  a  distinguished  fiorentine  family ;  distinguished 
for  services  rendered  in  public  office,  for  scientific  capacity  and 
culture,  not  for  riches.  He  was  born  in  Pisa  the  18*^  of  February 
1564,  the  day  of  Michelangelo's  death,  whilst  his  own  in  1642  was 
contemporaneous  with  the  birth  of  Isaac  Ii^ewton.  His  father's 
limted  means  could  not  afford  college  education,  he  was  obliged 
to  study  at  home  under  a  very  indifferent  master ;  fortunately 
the  youth's  desire  and  aptitude  for  knowledge  took  small  account 
of  the  teacher's  deficiencies,  carried  him  on  rapidly  in  classic 
literature,  mathematics,  music,  drawing,  besides  a  most  re- 
markable aptitude  in  mechanical  invention.  Music  was  the  favou- 
rite pursuit  of  his  leisure  hours  ;  its  charms  would  have  decided 
him  to  embrace  absolutely  a  musical  career,  had  it  not  been  for 
his  father's  opposition.  They  were  a  numerous  family,  their  re- 
sources extremely  limited  ;  Galileo,  the  eldest  son,  was  looked  on 
to  be  an  economical  prop,  to  follow  a  more  lucra'ive  profession 
than  that  of  a  musician.  Medicine  was  meted  out  to  him;  he  was 
entered  for  the  course  in  the  University  under  his  father's  super- 
vision, but  soon  neglected  his  medcal  books  for  his  favourite 
geometry,  to  which  he  felt  an  irresistible  calling.  During  his  four 
years  course  at  Pisa  Euclid  superseded  Hippocrates  !  Whilst  there 
he  discovered  the  isochronism  of  the  pendulum's  swing  with 
that  of  a  lamp  in  the  Dome,  applied  the  pendulum  as  the 
measure  of  time,  of  the  position  and  the  limits  of  heavenly  bodies 
in  space. 

He  greatly  acquired  mathematical  knowledge  at  first  by  listen- 
ing  behind   the  door  whilst  the  Abbe  Eicci   gave   lectures  to  his 


—  30  - 

pupils ;  af tc.  wards  mustering  up  courage  to  spoak  to  the  professor, 
the  latter  was  struck  by  the  extraordinary  capacity  disidayed, 
interviewed  his  father,  convinced  him  of  liis  son's  remarkable 
gifts,  finally  induced  him  to  consent  to  his  giving  up  medicine 
and  following  a  mathematical  career.  His  ability  soon  shone 
forth ;  at  26  he  gained  the  mathematical  professorship  at  Pisa, 
though  for  barely  three  years.  His  demonstration  of  the  laws  of 
gravity  in  the  fall  of  solids,  in  opposition  with  the  principles  laid 
down  by  Aristoteles,  arrayed  against  him  envy  and  academic 
hostility.  A  high  placed  admirer,  Guidobaldi,  obtained  for  him 
the  chair  at  Padova;  he  left  Pisa,  as  he  himself  narrates,  with 
all  his  worldly  goods  tied  up  in  a  bundle  weighing  somewhat 
about  fifty  pounds.  There  at  Padova  his  excellency  was  fully 
appreciated,  his  lecture  room  crowded  with  students  of  all  kinds 
and  denominations,  among  them  occasionally  the  great  astronomer 
Tycho  Brahe,  with  whom  he  established  a  lasting  friendship. 

Thoui:h  teaching  took  up  greatly  his  time,  his  studies  and 
researches  were  not  neglected  in  astronomy  and  physics.  He  con- 
structed the  first  thermometer ;  then,  amidst  universal  wonder 
and  admiration,  though  some  spoke  of  witchcraft,  the  telescope. 
The  Venetian  Senate,  in  recognition  of  the  wonderful  discovery, 
confirmed  him  professor  for  life  with  a  tliousand  florins  salary. 

But  whilst  the  senators  thou;;ht  only  of  the  advantages  to 
be  reaped  at  sea  by  the  new  instrument,  Galileo  went  further, 
looked  upwards  and  applied  it  to  the  observation  of  celestial  bodies. 
A  new  world  was  revealed  ;  all  past  astronomical  science  revolu- 
tionised. The  lunar  structure,  with  its  mountains  similar  to  the 
earth,  the  stars  and  nebulae  of  the  milky  way,  Jove's  satellites, 
the  stains  on  the  sun's  surface  were  revealed  to  the  observer's 
rapt  gaze.  Within  six  months  after  constructing  his  first  telescope, 
Galileo  published  his  chart  of  the  heavens,  « Nuncius  Sidereus  » 
amidst  the  civilised  world's  admiration.  The  Medicis  recalled  him 
to  Florence.  Oblivious  of  the  sorry  treatment  received  at  their 
hands  in  former  times,  when  professor  at  Pisa,  his  love  for  his 
native  town  prompted  his  acceptance  of  their  offer,  though,  again 
surrounded  by  envy,  suspicion,  persecution,  it  was  for  the  embit- 
terment  of  his  life !  At  that  period  he  gave  himself  up  entirely 
to  astronomy,  seeking  positive  proof  to  establish   the   laws  of  si- 


—  31  — . 

#  deral  movement,  that  of  the  earth  and  other  sideral  bodies  within 
the  range  of  his  observation. 

It  was  then  he  fixed  and  established  his  theory  of  the  plane- 
tary movement  round  the  sun,  in  opposition  to  all  accepted  no- 
tions up  to  that  time ;  it  was  then  on  that  theory,  based  on 
observation,  on  others  ascribed  to  him,  whether  his  or  not,  that  dis- 
cussion, violent  and  venemous  arose.  Scientists  of  the  past, 
prelates  w  edded  to  dogma,  ignorance  embedded  in  a  triple  plate 
of  stolid  conviction,  green  eyed  envy,  bloated  vanity  together 
assailed  the  philosopher,  who  first  among  positivists  based  his 
convictions  on  facts  revealed  by  scientific  observation.  The  war 
waged  hot.  was  carried  to  the  Papal  throne.  Galileo  was  more 
than  once  in  Eome,  able  to  convince  the  Pope,  defend  his  science 
from  the  blot  of  irreligion  ;  but  his  enemies  persevered.  Notwith- 
standing his  noble  answer  in  a  pamphlet  called  the  Examiner  (II 
Saggiatore)  a  model  of  argument  couched  in  masterly  style,  not- 
witlistanding  another  work  in  Platonic  form,  where  discussion 
arises  between  the  up'.olders  of  the  earth's  motion  and  their  ad- 
versary, the  Pope's  mind  w^as  in  the  end  unfavourably  biassed, 
Galileo  w^as  summoned  to  Eome  before  the  bar  of  the  Holy  In- 
quisition,  to  there  answer  for  the  crime  of  heresy.  Whilst  con- 
fined in  prison,  brought  before  his  judges,  threatened  with  torture, 
without  a  hearing,  beyond  contemptuous  indifference  to  the  ar- 
guments he  advanced  in  his  favour,  the  recantation,  an  undying 
memorial,  throughout  centuries,  of  gross  ignorance  and  religious 
intolerance,  Avas  insisted  on  and  obtained. 

After  his  imprisonment  in  the  cells  of  the  Inquisition  in  Rome, 
subsequent  confinement  in  Siena,  Galileo  was  allowed  to  return 
to  his  villa  in  Florence  at  Bellosguardo,  afterwards  to  Arcetri, 
where  among  other  distinguished  visitors  he  received  Milton  and 
where,  writing,  reading  and  studying,  he  lived  in  peace  until  the 
day  of  his  death  aged  77  years. 

GIOVANNI  BATTISTA  VICO. 

Giovanni  Battista  Vico  was  a  philosopher  and  jurist  bom  in 
Naples  the  23r<i  of  June  1668  of  humble  parents,  more  humble 
means.    From   youth  upwards  —  poor  boy,  content    with   scanty 


—  3^  — 

fare,  could  easily  attend  the  courses  of  the  ^N'eapoUtau  Uuiversily  — 
studious  of  history,  literature,  law  and  philosophy,  for  the  greater 
p;u't  of  h's  life  ho  liUod  the  chair  of  rhetoric  in  that  seat  of  learn- 
ing with  the  magnificent  annual  stipend  of  100  scudi,  that  is 
to  say  dollars!  Something,  beyond  this  inadequate  representative 
of  bread  and  cheese  even  in  the  seventeenth  century,  he  gained 
by  the  numerous  learned  works  he  published ;  but  above  all  he 
lives  in  science  for  his  great  philosophical  book  «  Principii  di  una 
Scienza  nuova  »  (Principles  of  a  new  Science)  published  in  a  first 
edition  in  1725,  again  in  1730  in  a  second,  enlarged  with  many 
substantial  additions. 

When  he  died  in  1744  at  the  ripe  age  of  76,  having  gained 
unto  himself  a  european  reputation,  a  fierce  quarrel  arose  over 
his  burial  between  the  religious  corporation  in  which  he  was 
inscribed  and  the  University  professors ;  both  wanted  a  monopoly 
of  the  body,  to  follow  it  to  the  grave.  Finally  the  canons  of  the 
cathedral  together  with  the  professors  buried  the  corpse  in  the 
Church  of  the  Gerolimini. 

Besides  his  critical  studios  leading  to  the  historical  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Eoman  law,  the  merit  is  due  to  Vico  of  conceiving 
and  setting  for'h  the  doclrine  of  progressive  moral  law  in  accord- 
ance with  human  evolution.  God  infused  in  man  an  innate 
sentiment  of  justice;  its  outcome  the  law  which  governs  his  ac- 
tions, becomes  more  perfect  as  the  march  of  civilisation  proceeds 
onwards.  It  is  not  a  given  revelation,  it  is  a  continuous  reve- 
lation in  harmony  with  the  expansion  of  man's  soul.  Vico's  pro- 
found researches  into  the  life  of  nations  fathered  his  other  fa- 
mous doctrine  of  human  civilisation  proceeding  in  cycles,  a  series 
of  ups  and  downs,  much  as  the  ascent  of  a  mountain  is  accom- 
plished by  following  the  track  of  hills  and  dales  grading  up- 
wards. 


ALESSANDRO  VOLTA. 

Bom  in  Como  IS^^  Februnry  1745  of  noble  family.  The  pio- 
neer the  greatest  in  electric  science,  he  be^^  his  career  as  pro- 
fessor of  Physics  in   liis   native    town.     H^    removed   to    Pavia, 


—  33  — 

undertaking  the  same  professorship  in  1779 ;  he  there  for  over 
tnirty  years  taught  and  worked,  giving  to  the  world  the  greatest 
of  modern  inventions,  the  electric  battery  (the  voltaic  pile),  build- 
ing up  for  himself  undying  fame. 

Struck  witlk  the  mysterious  power  of  electricity,  the  greater 
part  of  his  time  and  vast  intelligence  were  devoted  to  penetrat- 
ing the  secrets  of  its  control  and  origin.  After  constructing 
the  electrometer  and  the  electro-condenser,  he  invented  the  elec- 
tric battery,  undoubtedly  the  base  in  physical  and  chemical  science 
of  as  many  discoveries  as  the  telescope  in  astronomy  and  the  mi- 
croscope in  natural  history.  He  lives  undying  in  Electricity:  its 
measure  is  Volts! 

His  extraordinary  scientific  attainments  gained  him  universal 
recognition  and  honours.  In  1791  he  received  the  Copley  medal 
discerned  to  him  by  the  London  Eoyal  Society ;  in  1801  Napoleon 
the  1^^  called  him  to  Paris,  admired  his  experiments  and  had  a 
medal  struck  in  his  honour,  creating  him  also  Senator  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Lombardy ;  in  1815  he  was  invested  with  the  Directorship  of 
the  philosophical  Faculty  in  Padua  by  the  Emperor  of  Austria. 
He  held  it  until  1819  when  he  resigned,  settled  again  in  his  native 
Como  where  he  died  on  March  the  5^^  1827. 


GIUSEPPE  VERDI. 

Going  back  to  the  first  musical  methodic  orgnnisation,  with 
Gailo  d'Arezzo,  following  onwards  the  gradual  national  develop- 
ment, evoking  the  shades  of  Palestrina  and  Porpora,  who  raised 
on  high,  in  honour  of  religion,  human  song,  of  Monte verde  and 
Lulli  who  first  conceived  the  musical  drama,  of  the  old  masters 
who  inspired  Haydn.  Mozart,  the  immediate  predecessors  and 
masters  ot  Beethoven,  one  could  trace  the  Italian  primate  in  both 
vocal  and  instrumental  music.  Arising  in  the  land  of  song,  it 
crosses  frontiers,  seas,  mountains,  to  spread  throughout  the  globe. 
Though  in  the  noblest  of  arts,  more  than  any  other  inspiring  men's 
souls  with  lofty  sentiments,  we  could  prove  through  all  time  our 
country's  ascendant,  we  prefer  selecting  a  single  modern,  the  most 
modern  example. 


—  34  - 

Kot  far  from  P«arma,  a  handsome  and  lively  city  in  central 
Ita^y,  not  far  from  Corrcggio,  whose  name  has  gone  down  to 
posterity  with  Antonio  AUegri,  the  groat  painter  born  there,  is  a 
very  small  village,  called  Eoncole,  where  a  woi;thy  man  gained  a 
modest  living  by  keeping  a  tavern.  It  was  a  very  humble  place; 
no  black  coated  waiters,  the  customers  were  served  by  the  shirtsleev- 
ed  innko3p3r  and  his  son,  a  small  well  grown  lad  abouti  nin3. 

The  youngster  ran  errands,  took  orders,  went  obediently  here 
and  there  as  occasion  required,  without  playing  truant;  but  there 
was  one  temptation  beyond  his  powers  of  resistance.  When  a 
barrel  organ,  a  strolling  fiddler,  or  a  man  with  a  concertina 
came  in  sight,  the  boy's  activity  was  suspended.  However  pitiful 
the  sounds,  he  was  there  listening  with  all  his  oars,  tran^^forming 
them  into  a  world  of  harmony  created  within  the  innermost 
recesses  of  his  being.  He  was  willing,  ever  ready  to  work,  never 
bored  his  father  with  unreasonable  whims,  but  stubbornly 
repeated  always  the  same  prayer :  please  Papa  let  me  learn  music! 
A  poor  country  innkeeper,  whose  ideas  ranged  over  the  limited 
field  of  bargaining  for  wine,  bread  and  meat,  could  hardly  enter 
into  artistic  dreams;  he  piffed,  paffed,  held  out  for  a  long  time; 
at  last  the  boy's  pertinacity  and  loveableness  gained  the  day.  A 
very  old  spinet  adorned  the  vicarage,  the  vicar,  whose  musical 
appreciation  tallied  with  that  of  the  innkeeper,  made  over  to  the 
latter,  for  a  few  francs,  the  venerable  instrument ;  a  clever  repairer 
was  induced  to  put  it  in  order ;  thus  Giuseppe  Verdi  made  the 
first  step  in  his  glorious  career. 

Besides  attending  at  the  inn  he  had  attained  the  age  when 
children  go  to  school,  so  little  available  time  was  left  on  his  hands 
for  other  pursuits;  but  instead  of  joining  his  schoolfellows  in 
their  sports,  every  available  moment  was  devoted  to  mastering 
the  spinet's  technicalities.  The  vicar,  struck  by  the  boy's  preco- 
cious persever.mce,  added  to  his  delight  by  allowing  him  to 
practise  on  the  village  organ  ;  and  there  he  sat,  day  afer  d  ly, 
hardly  reaching  the  keys  and  stops,  drinking  in  visions  called  forJi 
by  the  majestic  swelling  chords. 

^The  matter  went  further.  The  boy's  marked  musical  gifts 
travelled  beyond  his  native  village ;  a  grocer  of  the  neighbouring 
township  of   Busseto,  who    supplied  Verdi's    father  with  groceries 


—  35  — 

and  was  an  enthusiastic  musical  amateur,  appreciating  the  boy's 
natural  gifts,  offered  to  provide  for  his  general  and  musical 
education,  at  school  and  in  his  own  home.  The  father,  now  moro 
fully  alive  to  his  son's  exceptional  talent,  accepted  the  oUer. 
Giuseppe  Verdi  was  lodged  and  boarded  by  a  Busseto  shoemaker 
for  a  franc  a  day,  whilst  Bareggi,  the  grocer,  provided  at  home 
the  musical  education.  The  mischief  was  that  the  worthy  man's 
daughter  had  also  musical  proclivities ;  the  growing  boy  and 
girl  Suudied  together,  played  together,  ended,  when  the  stripling 
had  shot  up  into  a  young  man   in  deeply  loving  each  other! 

Young  Verdi,  msanwhile,  gave  evermore  proofs  of  his  musical 
talent ;  he  wrote,  among  other  compositions,  symi:honies  for  the 
municipal  band  ;  directed  Ihem  himself,  amids^  enlusiastic  applause. 
Bareggi,  now  further  coufr:med  in  his  opinion  as  to  the  singular 
vocation  displayed  by  his  protege,  arranged  for  his  removal  to 
Milan,  the  biggest  musical  centre  in  Italy.  As  some  limes  happens 
when  learned  doclois  sit  in  council,  fo:-  a  technical  objecuon, 
raised  by  one  of  the  pundits,  his  age  being  then  nineleen,  he  was 
not  admitted  to  the  Conservatory;  perhaps  by  a  lucky  turn  of 
fo: lane's  wheel  studied  instead  with  the  conductor  of  the  musical 
season  at  the  Scala,  Milan's  renowned  theatre ;  anJ,  on,  behind 
the  scenes,  was  initiatied  into  th3  detail  of  musical  life,  the  petty 
intrigues  he  never  stooped  to  use,  the  mysteries  of  the  musical 
drama. 

He  was  still  a  young,  a  very  young  fellow,  called  the  «  Ma- 
estrino  »  a  kind  of  understudy,  when  at  the  Phila  monic,  Haydn's 
«  Creation  »  having  been  announced,  the  dieclor's  illness  obliged 
the  stop  gap  to  take  his  place  without  warning ;  he  conce  ted  and 
directed  triumphantly  the  noble  composition,  though  in  the  orchestra 
sat  a  majority  of  amateurs  ! 

Meanwhile  he  was  giving  his  attention  to  the  musical  drama, 
had  come  across  a  «  libretto  »  suited  to  his  capabilities,  was  able 
to  induce  a  friendly  manager  to  put  his  work  on  the  stage  before 
the  public.  The  new  opera,  by  the  bran  new  composer  a  Hubert 
Count  of  S.  Boniface  »  long  since  fo.gotten,  was  an  undoubted 
success,  revealed  excepjional  talent  fo."  lyrical  drama,  gained 
heaps  of  laurels  and  vciy  scarce  profits  to  the  youthful  author. 

It   was   enough   to  encourage    him,  induce   him    to    avow  his 


—  36  — 

love  for  Barcg,2:i's  daufcliter  to  the  father,  obtain  his  ronsent  to 
thoir  raaiTiage.  Th '  young  couple  settled  in  Milan,  tlie  future 
scene  of  Verdi's  labour ;  two  children  quickly  graced  the  union, 
but,  alas !  m'sfortuno,  in  its  most  atrocious  form^  was  impending: 
in  one  fell  swoop  'death  descended  on  the  house ;  Verdi  became  a 
childless  widower ! 

Previously  he  had  entered  into  an  engagement  to  write  a 
comic  Opera  «  11  Eegno  di  un  Giorno  »  (A  Day's  Eeign),  had 
already  began ;  amidst  blinding  tears,  at  his  solitary  hearth,  he 
completed  the  score !  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  if  the  «  vis 
comica  »  was  not  at  call,  if  the  opera  turned  out  a  most  signal 
failure  ?  ! 

The  public  hissed,  the  amiable  critics  changed  the  title  from 
«  A  Day's  Eeign  «  to  «  A  Night's  Downfall  »,  the  unfortunate 
composer,  torn  by  grief,  despairing  of  his  own  powers,  threw 
everything  to  the  winds,  fled  from  Milan,  took  refuge  in  Busseto, 
under  his  father  in  law's  friendly  roof.  There  he  remained,  woe 
begone,  deaf  to  all  entreaties  or  encouragements,  until  the  manager 
of  the  Scala,  still  entertaining  great  confidence  in  his  lyrical  po- 
wers, sent  him  the  «  libretto  »  of  «  Nabucco  ».  Verdi  was  at  last 
induced  to  read  it,  was  taken  with  the  plot,  its  musical  capabi- 
lities ;  it  followed  him  about,  fanned  the  smouldering  embers  of 
his  enthralling  passion ,  he  began  the  score,  entirely  taken  up, 
worked  on,  completed  and  sent  it  to  the  friendly  manager,  who, 
warmly  approving,  put  it  on  the  stage  without  loss  of  time. 
«  Nabucco  »  was  received  with  enthusiasm;  Verdi's  dramatic  instinct 
had  served  him  well ;  the  opera  lives  on  the  scenes  even  today. 
Thence  onwards  it  was  a  career  from  one  success  to  another, 
until  the  Busseto  lad's  name  became  a  byw^ord  throughout  the 
world.  «  I  Lombardi  »,  «  Ernani  »,  «  I  Due  Foscari  »,  « Macbeth », 
«  I  Masnadieri  »,  «  Luisa  Miller  »,  t<  II  Trovatore  »,  «  La  Tra- 
viata  »,  «  I  Vespri  Siciliani  »,  «  L'Araldo  »  unfavourably  received 
and  since  forgotten,  «  II  Ballo  in  Maschera  »,  «  La  Forza  del  De- 
stino  »,  a  Don  Carlos  »,  «  Aida  »,  «  Simone  Boccanegra  u, 
((Othello  »,,and  «  Falstaff  »  are  the  milestones  marking  the  most 
remarkable  operatic  career  on  record.  Eemarkable  also  in  another 
sense.  Donizetti,  Bellini,  Mercadante,  the  predecessors  of  Verdi, 
including  Eossini,  were  slaves  to  the  musical  canons  embraced  in 


— .  37  — 

youth,  he  no;  his  lyrical  intelligence  expanded  with  the  times, 
was  able  to  assimilate  all  that  tended  to  perfect  the  lyrical 
drama,  as  the  greater  part  due  to  the  most  subordinate  orchestra 
of  past  times  in  depicting  place,  circumstance,  the  various 
passions  of  the  personages  engaged  in  the  drama.  Eoughly,  this 
musical  evolution  that  time  accomplished  in  the  master's  brain, 
cin  be  traced  clearly  by  comparing  the  Traviata  with  Don 
Carlos,  then  with  Aida  and  lastly  with  Othello,  the  most  perfect 
of  lyrical  dramas  in  its  tragical  expression,  where  every  note  sung 
or  played  conveys  the  sentiments  inspiring  Shakespeare's  immortal 
tragedy. 

An  artist  to  the  backbone,  an  energetic  man  with  bone,  muscle 
and  a  will  of  his  own,  a  patriot  alive  to  his  country's  aims  and 
welfare,  moving  his  fellow  citizens  to  enthusiasm  by  his  lyrical 
appeals,  as  in  «  Ernani  »,  «  I  Lombardi  »,  « La  Battaglia  di  Le- 
gnano  »,  his  first  years  surroundings  had  sunk  deep  into  his 
being,  endowed  him  with  devotion  to  country  life,  country 
pursuits,  a  desire  to  flee  from  the  artificial  conventions  of  towns 
and  polite  society.  When  money  began  to  flow  in,  he  put  by, 
put  by  until  he  was  able  to  buy  a  small  house  with  a  few  fields 
at  S.  Agata,  not  far  from  his  native  place,  enlarging  the  estate 
by  buying  land  around  when  funds  were  available.  There,  in 
his  late  years,  he  lived,  working,  writing,  farming,  seeing  little 
company,  leaving  for  town  life  only  when  one  of  his  new  operas 
was  put  upon  the  stage.  He  had  been  elected  member  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  on  conservative  lines,  follower  and  admirer 
of  Cavour,  was  promoted  to  the  Senate  later  on,  frequented 
neither  House,  being  wont  to  observe  that  «  one  lost  a  lot  of 
time  in  discussing  and  squabbling  without  coming  to  any  tangible 
result  ». 

He  looked  to  nature  for  inspiration,  to  nature  he  evermore 
turned  in  his  later  years  ;  among  nature's  scenes,  in  the  tranquil- 
lity of  his  country  home,  to  the  last  preserving  the  exceptional 
gifts  of  genius,  he  expired  in  the  year  1901,  aged  88. 

He  left  his  considerable  fortune  entirely  for  the  foundation 
of  a  home  for  old  impoverished  singers,  who  after  having  gained 
their  living  by  singing  his  music,  in  their  barren  old  age  bless  his 
name  in  his  Home ! 


*-38-^ 


GUGLIELMO  MARCONI. 

The  inventor  of  undoubtedly  the  greatest  modern  invention, 
or  rather  application  of  science;  annihilating  space  in  human 
communication  throu^jhout  the  globe ;  the  man  who  harnessed 
Hertz's  electric  waves  tp  his  car,  so  as  to  carry  messages  across 
mountains  and  oceans,  regardless  of  space,  at  lightning's  speed, 
was  bom  at  Griffone,  near  Bologna,  the  25^^  of  April  1874.  After 
going  througli  the  usual  course  of  secondary  studies,  scientific 
practical  applications  specially  appealed  to  his  mental  poise, 
above  all  electricity,  its  power,  boundless  power,  its  manifold 
possibilities,  attracted  his  spirit  and  attention. 

Mastered  Hertz's  theory,  the  parallelism  of  electricity  and 
light,  their  course  through  infinite  space,  it  appeared  to  him 
obvious  that  if  the  sun's  heat  and  light,  electric  and  magnetic 
perturbations,  the  stars's  light,  reach  us  across  infinite  distances, 
carried  by  some  definite  law ;  applying  the  law,  adopting  the  same 
processes,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  launch  electricity  into  space 
from  the  earth,  directing  it  to  any  given  point. 

Once  the  idea  had  become  a  settled  conviction,  the  question 
arose,  no  mean  one,  how  to  prove  it  practically,  to  place  it  in 
the  reign  of  facts.  He  set  to  work  quietly  by  himseLE  in  the 
country,  on  his  father's  farm,  carried  out  a  series  of  experiments, 
was  able  after  a  time,  in  1895,  to  prove  tlie  accuracy  of  his 
theory,  by  succeeding  in  transmitting  wireless  signals  from  one 
place  to  another  at  a  relatively  considerable  distance.  He  worked 
on,  continued  perfecting  his  apparatus ;  then  completely  satisfied 
as  to  the  results  obtained,  in  order  to  enter  on  a  wider  field, 
dispose  of  more  considerable  means,  industrialise  his  discovery, 
he  betook  himself  to  England,  his  mother's  birthplace  ;  there  he 
was  able  to  interest  the  direction  of  the  telegraph  in  his  work, 
especially  Sir  W.  Ejce^ce,  the  well  known  electrician.  Experiments 
were  made  In  1897  in  the  Bristol  Channel  betwen  Lavernock  and 
Brean  Down,  across  the  Channel,  a  distance  of  nine  miles.  On  the 
invitation  of  the  Italian  Government,  Marconi  went  to  Rome, 
v^ve  a  series  of  experiments  at  the  Quirinal  before  tlie  King  and 


—  39  — . 

Queen  and  high  govorment  officials,  subsequently  at  Spezia  renew- 
ing  the  practical  test  most  suocessfully  on  board  of  two  Italian 
battleships.  The  government  recognising  the  great  value  of  the 
invention  conferred  on  the  inventor  the  honour  of  Knighthood. 

In  the  same  year  Marconi's  Wireless  Telegraph  Company  was 
established;  in  1899  a  number  of  British  warships  were  equipped 
with  the  Marconi  apparatus;  in  1902  Cape  Breton,  Nova  Scotia, 
was  put  in  communication  with  the  Cornwall  Station  at  Poldhu ; 
in  October  1903  communication  was  established  between  the  war- 
ship Lucania,  with  Marconi  on  board,  and  the  stations  at  Glace 
Bay,  Canada,  Poldhu,  Britain. 

Marconi's  work  h  jS  been  recognised  by  many  governments  and 
seats  of  learning.  By  the  King  of  Italy  and  the  Zar  of  Ei  ssia  he 
has  been  decorated,  by  the  former  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  Se- 
nator. He  is  honorary  Doctor  of  many  Universities,  including 
Oxford;  Glasgow,  Aberdeen,  Liverpool,  Pennsylvania,  beside  hav- 
ing received  the  freedom  of  the  principal  Italian  cities.  In  19C9 
he  obtained  the  highest  distinction  within  reach  of  any  scientist, 
the  ISTobel  Prize  for  Physios. 

Though  the  Company  worked  Marconi's  system  from  an 
/  industrial  point  of  view,  established  branch  Companies  in  America 
and  most  European  countries,  the  inventor  reserved  the  right  of 
allowing  Italy's  government  free  use  of  his  invention  for  all 
public  purposes ;  he  himself  superintended  the  construction  of 
a  central  station  at  Coltano  in  direct  communication  with  tlio 
Eoyal  :N"avy  and  all  Italy's  political  representatives  abroad. 

From  perfection  to  perfection,  the  illustrious  discoverer  has 
announced  not  distant  the  time  when  not  only  telegraphic  but 
telephonic  messages  will  be  wirelessly  conveyed  to  any  distance, 
nor  does  he  despair  in  future  of  electric  energy  itself  of  high 
potentiality  being  carried  silently,  invisibly,  at  lightning  speed  and 
distributed  throughout  space.  His  vigorous  manhood  allows  th«y 
persuasion  that  what  his  inventive  genius  has  hitherto  accomplish- 
ed may  be  an  earnest  of  t'le  benefits  he  may  be  allowed  to 
confer  on  humanity  in  the  future. 


—  40  — 


REBIRTH. 

Young  Italy,  rejuvenated  Italy  owes  her  reconstruction,  unity, 
station  among  nations  principally  to  the  efforts  of  the  four  men 
whoso  features  are  here  reproduced,  in  the  chronological  order  of 
their  work :  the  «  Apostle  »,  Giuse^jpe  Mazzini,  the  «  Warrior  », 
Giuseppe  Garibaldi,  tlie  «  King  »,  Victor  Emmanuel  the  II"*!,  the 
«  Statesman  »,  Camillo  Cavour. 

Swayed  by  despots  and  petty  sovereigns  and  divided  into 
seven  different  States,  Piedmont,  Lombardo-Venetian  Provinces, 
Tuscany,  the  Papal  States,  tlie  Duchy  of  Modena,  the  Duchy  of 
Parma,  the  Two  Sicilies  (Neai^olitan  provinces  and  Sicily),  the 
population  sluggishly  vegetated  and  despaired,  until  roused  and 
called  into  new  life  and  hope  by  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  two 
former,  by  the  prudent  audacity  of  the  two  latter. 

Changes  had  before  occurred.  Durin;^  the  sway  of  tlie  French 
Eepublic  of  1789  and  the  subsequent  Empire  of  Napoleon,  Italy 
had  been  differently  portioned  out :  Murat  was  Kinj:  of  the  Two 
Sicilies;  Piedmont  as  befoie  under  its  reigning  House  of  Savoy; 
the  rest  of  the  country  split  up  into  the  Cis-Alphie  and  Trans- 
Alpine  Eepublics,  so  called  Eepublics,  but  under  t'le  protection 
and  virtually  under  the  sway  of  France.  So  it  was  for  the  few 
years  in  which  the  meteor  like  power  of  Napoleon  governed  the 
world,  to  return  as  before  when  his  star  sunk  for  ever  below  the 
horizon. 


JOSEPH  MAZZINI,  the  Apostle, 

And  then,  although  in  accordance  with  the  revolutionary 
party  in  France,  through  the  secret  Society  of  the  «  Carbonari  », 
a  partial  unsuccessful  rising,  nipped  in  the  bud,  was  attempted 
in  Turin  in  1821,  in  which  Carlo  Alberto,  the  future  sovereign 
of  Piedmont,  was  impUcated,  the  spirit  of  unity,  the  many 
attempts  to  overthrow  foreign  ^nd   domestic   tyranny   date   from 


—  41  — 

when  Giuseppe  Mazzini,  with  his  continual  propao:anda,  his 
preaching  the  fiery  cross,  his  continual  conspirations  and  partial 
attempts  at  revolt  and  revolution,  infused  new  blood,  new  enter- 
prise, new  hope  in  the  rising  generation.  Hardly  a  year  passed, 
from  his  first  attempt  in  Savoy  in  1831  until  the  general  revolution 
of  1848,  the  heroic  defences  of  the  Eoman  and  Venetian  Eepublics 
in  1849,  and  onwards  up  to  the  entrance  of  the  Italian  Army 
in  Eome  in  1870,  finally  Capital  of  United  Italy,  in  which  some 
conspiracy  was  not  organised,  some  partial  rising  attempted 
through  his  untiring  w ork,  unflagging  spirit. 

Joseph  Mazzini  was  born  in  Genoa  the  22"'^  of  June  1805.  His 
father  was  a  well  known  physician,  with  an  extensive  practise, 
professor  also,  at  the  Genoese  University,  of  medical  science  ;  his 
mother,  Maria,  a  saintly  w^oman.  Like  his  father  attached  to 
religion,  though  concentrating  her  field  of  action  to  home  events, 
her  mind  was  broad,  capable  and  desirous  of  a  wider  range  of 
thought,  as  the  lifelong  correspondence  between  an  exiled  son  and 
a  mother  bound  up  in  his  welfare  amply  shows. 

Young  Mazzini  at  a  very  early  age  gave  proof  of  his  remark- 
able intelligence  and  desire  to  follow  the  trend  of  human  thought 
by  his  application  to  study,  his  love  of  readmg,  his  indifference 
to  those  field  sports  so  dear  to  boyhood.  Spare,  agile,  of  middle 
height,  he  possessed  both  a  fascinating  address  and  figure,  with 
an  oval  sallow  face,  in  which  a  most  wonderful  pair  of  liquid 
dark  brown  eyes,  sparkling  or  melting,  held  under  their  spell  all 
those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

After  studying  at  home,  with  a  worthy  priest,  he  followed 
the  usual  curriculum,  entering  the  university  as  a  student  of 
law.  About  law  as  trade  or  profession  he  cared  very  little ;  early 
inspired  by  his  profound  love  and  reverence  for  Dante,  he  roved 
in  other  fields,  ranging  over  literature,  poetry  and  philosophy  to 
understand  the  higher  moral  law  that  governs  nature,  man  and 
nations,  endows  the  soul  with  an  everlasting  thirst  for  justice, 
liberty  and  progress. 

His  «  via  crucis  »  began  early.  Loved  and  trusted  by  his 
fellow  students,  he  organised  a  conspiracy  to  free  Genoa  and  Li- 
guria  from  the  despotic  monarchy  of  King  iharles  Felix,  to 
declare  a  Eepublic,  extend  the  agitation  and  revolution  throughout 


-  42  — 

Lombardy,  ovortlirow  the  Austrian  rule.  Of  course  the  secret 
leaked  out,  became  known  to  the  police ;  several  amon :  the 
conspirators  were  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison.  One  of  Maz- 
zini's  m)8t  cheiished  and  intimate  friends,  Lorenzo  Eufllni, 
fi-arinz  to  reveal  under  tjrtuve  the  names  of  his  companions, 
dixided  liis  arteries  with  a  ja:4:,i;ed  piece  of  j;lass,  dyin^-  in  a  pool 
of  his  own  blood.  His  fears  were  not  aLo^ether  unfounded, 
since  the  ways  and  means  of  absolute  monarchs  in  those  times 
did  not  exclude  torture  of  all  kinds,  moral  and  physical ! 

Ti.e  soul  of  the  movement,  throu„^h  information  filtered  to 
bis  father  by  a  friend  of  his,  had  time  to  escape  to  Marseilles. 
There  he  lived,  in  contact  with  the  greatest  amongst  the  advanced 
French  patriots,  the  Abbe  Lamennais,  Georges  8and,  Godfrey 
Cavai^nac,  Louis  Blanc,  Ledru-EoUin  amon^  others,  working  with 
his  fellow  emigrants,  corresponding  with  fellow  spirits  at  home, 
gathering  together  the  elements,  in  a  ne.v  association  «  Giovane 
Italia  »  (Young  Italy)  for  anotlier  attempt  for  liberty,  that  took 
place  in  Savoy  in  1834,  with  great  hope3  of  success,  dashed  to 
the  ground  by  the  traitorous  conduct  of  the  military  head,  Ge- 
neral Eamorino,  who  after  joining  the  expedition  and  accepting 
pay,  failed  with  his  men  at  the  last  moment.  The  few  others 
who  raised  the  banner  of  revolt  were  arrested  ;  Mazzini  imprisoned 
in  the  fortress  of  Savona,  tried,  sentenced  to  death,  commuted 
into  perpetual  exile.  He  betook  himself  to  Switzerland,  shaken 
by  the  disaster,  the  discredit  thrown  on  the  «  Giovane  Italia  » ; 
but  after  a  period  of  most  atrocious  doubt,  regained  unqucnched 
faith  in  the  cause  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  life. 

Besides  literary  labour,  always  bearing  in  mind  his  country's 
cause  and  bringing  it  to  bear  on  his  work,  he  recommenced  the 
patient  struggle  for  liberty.  Principally  through  the  pressure 
)>rought  to  bear  on  the  central  Swiss  government  by  the  French 
and  Austrian  ambassadors,  together  with  several  faithful  friends, 
though  he  had  become  popular  and  loved  in  the  Canton  where  he 
resided,  he  was  exiled  from  Switzerland  on  the  charge  of  plotting 
against  the  peace  of  friendly  powers. 

All  Europe  was  thus  closed  to  him,  with  the  exception  of 
free  England ;  he  betook  himself  to  London,  definitively  there 
established  his  residence  until  Lo  returned  to  Italy,  an  unwelcome 


—  43  - 

guest,  still  under  the  ban  of  proscription,  in  1870  when  Italian 
unity  was  sealed  by  the  acquisition  of  its  Capital,  Eome. 

Soul  of  the  general  rising  in  1848,  ending  in  the  unhappy 
defeat  of  Charles  Albert  at  Kovara,  Triumvir  of  the  Eoman 
Eepublic  in  1849,  when  the  Eternal  City  heroically  resisted  for  over 
three  months  against  the  siege  of  three  different  armies;  paving 
the  way  for  Garibaldi,  by  means  of  his  friends,  in  his  conquest 
of  Southern  Italy  in  60  from  the  thrall  of  the  Bourbons ;  again 
in  1866  cooperating  with  him  in  raising  his  volunteer  army,  that 
contributed  by  its  victories  to  that  campaim,  ending  in  the 
annexation  of  the  Venetian  provinces  to  Italy ;  again  cooperating 
with  him  in  the  attempt  in  1867  to  acquire  Eome  to  Italy :  his 
unquenchable  ardour  flogged  the  weaker  or  more  calculating  spirits 
to  attempt  and  accomplish,  when  they  would  more  gladly  have 
sat  still  and  temporised. 

With  1870  his  work  of  conspiration  directed  to  unity  came 
to  an  end;  that  of  educating,  of  teaching  the  nation  its  duty  of 
accomplishing  a  new  human  mission  of  civilisation,  coming  to  life 
a  third  time  in  world's  history,  lasted  until  the  day  of  his  death 
in  Pisa  the  10*^  March  1872. 

Joseph  Mazzini  was  not  only  a  model  patriot;  a  writer  also  of 
great  literary  talent,  of  which  he  left  proofs  in  his  contributions, 
in  English,  French  and  Italian,  to  the  principal  reviews  of  those 
countries,  he  was  also  an  eminent  philosopher.  His  educational 
work,  the  «  Duties  of  Man  »  (I  Dover!  dell'Uomo),  published  in 
most  european  languages,  is  the  most  perfect  manual  of  education 
existing.  Based  on  the  axiom  that  God  is  God,  Humanity  the 
interpreter  of  his  Law  here  below,  in  separate  chapters  it  defines 
man's  duty  in  every  walk  of  life.  His  prophetic  vision  of  future 
events,  successively  verified  is  marvellous.  In  the  year  1852  he 
pubblished  a  pamphlet  on  Europe's  political  future  in  which  all 
that  has  been  accomplished  in  our  times,  all  that  will  in  brief 
be  accomplished,  is  clearly  and  definitely  mapped  out.  Italian 
and  German  unity,  the  rise  of  the  southern  Slavs,  their  consti- 
tution into  nationalities,  together  with  the  Eoumanian  or  Da<iO- 
Eoman  nation ;  the  decay  of  Turkey,  of  the  Austrian  Empire  are 
all  foreseen,  foretold  with  marvellous  accuracy. 


—  44  - 

Seor  and  Apostle,  Joseph  Mazzini's  fiffure  ever  j^rows,  as  snceeed- 
ing  generatioDS  are  able  to  appreciate  all  the  virtues  eniar.uting 
from  his  genius. 


GIUSEPPE  GARIBALDI,  the  Knight 

A  true  knight  he  was,  stamped  on  tlic  pattern  of  older  times. 
One  can  liken  him  to  Lohengrin,  called  from  the  Round  Table  to 
succour  Elsa  the  maiden  in  despair;  only  Gari'  aldi's  maiden  in 
despair  was  Liberty  !  Wherever  and  whenever  she  called,  in  either 
hemisphere,  the  blond  warrior's  sword  flew  from  its  scabbard, 
leading  her  henc'.imen  to  victory.  His  life  is  one  of  continual 
adventure,  privation  and  sacrifice,  devoted  entirely  to  his  country, 
Italy,  to  his  Goddess,  Liberty.  Again,  in  valour,  abnegation,  simple 
life,  he  was  the  worthy  successor  of  his  great  ancestor  Cincinnatus. 
.  Born  in  Nice  the  4^^  of  July  1897,  his  father,  captain  and 
owner  of  a  small  ship,  as  his  father  before  him,  would  have  saved 
the  boy  from  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  the  sea,  by  bringing 
him  up  to  polite  learning  and  land  craft  of  some  kind,  had  not 
his  son  taken  very  early  the  matter  into  his  own  hands.  Wiien 
quite  a  slip  of  a  boy  he  induced  several  of  his  schoolfellows  to 
join  with  him  in  laying  hands  on  a  boat,  cribbing  provisions  at  home 
and,  with  some  fishing  tackle,  putting  out  to  sea  on  a  cruise  of 
adventure  and  discovery  on  their  own  account !  The  alarmed 
parents  lost  no  time  in  giving  chase  on  a  faster  boat,  came  up 
with  the  hardy  adventurers,  brought  them  lack  to  land  and 
those  corporal  chastisements  worthy  of  the  exploit.  The  upshot 
was  that  young  Garibaldi's  vocation  was  no  longer  questioned; 
his  father  made  him  over  to  an  old  friend,  the  captain  of  a 
brig;  henceforth  he  studied  life,  men,  winds  and  waves,  the 
mysteries  of  hard  knocks  and  how  to  bear  them,  outside  books, 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  merchantman's  deck ! 

Yet  that  was  his  element.  A  proof  of  undaunted  courage  he 
gave  before  embarking,  wliilst  roving  with  a  school  fellow,  with 
some  excuse  of  a  gun  for  the  slau:;htcr  of  sm  ill  birds.  They 
came  within  hail  of  one  of  those  deep  ponds  used  for  the  steeping 


—  43  — 

of  hemp ;  ou  its  bank  a  woman  was  washing  clothes ;  in  some 
way  or  other^  her  foot  slipped,  she  lost  her  balance,  fell  into 
the  water,  shrieking !  Young  Garibaldi's  friend  reechoed  her 
shrieks,  rushing  across  the  fields  and  shouting  for  help  ;  not  so 
the  other  boy.  Without  a  thought  for  self,  for  the  danier  and 
difficulty  of  the  task,  lie  plunged  into  the  water,  caught  the  woman 
by  the  clothes,  some  way  or  other  dragged  her  to  land,  saved  Ler 
from  drowning  !  For  a  youngster  about  eleven  it  was  not  a  bad 
beginning  on  the  career  of  bravery. 

The  same  happened  again  on  board  ship,  when  older  he  had 
attained  promotion  to  officership,  ^^  as  rigged  out  in  store  clothes, 
ready  to  go  as  hore  and  have  a  good  time  at  Marseilles.  On  landing 
he  heard  a  noise,  saw  a  crowd  gesticulating  and  shouting ;  a  man 
belonixing  to  one  of  the  nei^hlouring  ships  had  fallen  over  board, 
knew  nothinj^  of  swimmin:;,  was  in  imminent  danger  of  drowning. 
Everyone,  in  the  higl  est  pitched  of  tones  was  giving  advice  and 
begging  the  unlucky  wight  to'  keep  his  head  above  water.  Ga- 
ribaldi, without  a  thought,  even  for  that  holiday  suit,  infinitely 
more  precious  to  him  than  his  every  day  skin,  leaped  into  the 
water,  had  the  Frenc'iman  by  the  hair  of  his  head,  towed  him 
to  land,  amidst  universal  applause  and  blessings,  that  could  not 
replace  the  sp3iled  clothes,  though  no  doubt  they  warmed  his 
young  heart. 

Lieutenant  or  captain  he  cruised  for  many  years  on  the 
ocean,  at  the  will  of  cargo,  ship  owners  and  shipping  agents, 
more  especially  in  the  South  American  trade.  Of  course  his 
patriotic  feelin:  s  shaped  early,  like  all  else,  towards  action ;  his 
nature  willed  it  so.  He  joined  in  Marseilles  the  secret  association 
«  Young  Italy  »  formed  by  Mazzini,  becaine  probably  at  the  same 
time  a  mason,  of  \^hich  order  for  some  years  he  was  in  Italy 
Grand  Master.  It  was  not  unnatural,  consideiing  the  times, 
though  hardly  a  pleasant  surprise,  to  read  in  a  Marseilles  paper 
of  a  trial  having  taken  place  in  which  sundry  conspirators  were 
triel,  among  others  Joseph  Garibaldi  in  his  absence,  a  fortunate 
a' sence,  condemned  to  death  !  It  was  equivalent  to  putting  an 
end  to  his  career  as  optain  touching  at  French  or  Italian  ports. 
He  repxired  to  Eio  Janeiro,  found  there  congenial  spirits  and 
compatriots,  among  others    Ross(^tti ;   offered   his   services   to   the 


—  46  — 

Rcpir  lie  of  l?io  Gmndo,  then  risen  in  ro';cl]ion  aTainst,  the  Ar- 
g:ontinL'  Confederation  r.  lod  despotically  witli  a  rod  of  iron  by 
Bosas  ;  was  gladly  accepted.  His  scene  of  strife  and  action  was 
then  and  for  some  years  on  the  Pla'a,  where  he  struck  weighty 
blows  at  fearful  odds  for  liberty;  either,  in  command  of  a  so 
called  fleet  of  a  few  sorry  boats,  o'horwise,  when  occasion  served, 
landing  and  harryin,'  the  enemy's  country.  On  one  incident  a 
few  words  of  illustration  may  n  .t  be  amiss.  He  was  a  ..ainst  ashed 
with  a  few  compani3n3,  repairing  and  cauUdng  one  of  their  I  oats; 
on  a  sudden,  whilst  at  work,  they  wire  suddenly  surprised  1  y  a 
hundred  and  fifty  of  their  enemies,  whD  had  w.tched  them,  rej  'ic- 
ed at  the  opprtunity  to  get  rid  of  so  redou')1a')le  an  enemy, 
since  redou  table  he  had  made  himself  throu.hout  the  country. 
Garibaldi,  with  lightning  speed  drew  his  men  into  the  shed,  larri- 
caded  the  doors,  legan  shooting  frcm  loopholes  and  windows, 
singing  aloud  at  the  top  cf  their  voices  the  national  hymn  to 
deceive  or  attempt  to  deceive  the  enemy  as  to  the  miscra^do 
scarcity  of  their  number;  so  en  from  mo:n  to  eve,  until  the  150, 
who  were  not  the  300  of  the  Thermopilae,  worn  out  I  y  unavailing 
efforts,  dscouraged  and  unhopeful  to  force  the  position,  retreated, 
carrying  with  them  their  dead  and  wounded :  14  all  told,  against 
150!    Big  odds,  but  the  14  had  Gari  ;aldi  as  Leader! 

S3  on  through  hundreds  ot  incidents  or  similir  episodes  ly 
land  and  water,  now  carryng  all  Ijcfore  him,  now  ragged  and 
worn,  tracked  by  superior  numbers  as  a  \\ild  I  east  to  his  lair. 
Among  such  scenes  he  met  the  companion  of  his  life,  his  faithful 
companion,  Anita.  Met  her  Ly  chance,  thou  h  for  loth  it  was 
as  if  some  superior  decree  from  on  high  had  ordained  their 
meeting;  it  was  love  irresisla' le,  love  at  first  si.ht!  She  followed 
her  mate,  shared  his  lot,  always  at  his  side  in  hardship  or  dan;er, 
even  un  o  the  day  of  her  death,  in  the  swamps  of  Eavenna, 
wearied  and  worn  out,  whilst  fleeing  from  Eome  in  1849,  marked 
down  by  the  Austrian  troops. 

During  the  long  siege  of  Montevideo,  Garibaldi  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Italian  Lojon,  above  all  others  distinguished  for 
its  valour.  As  soon  as  the  first  news  of  Italian  risings  towards 
the  end  of  1847  reached  South  America,  G.irilaldi  called  together 
the  willing  mem' ers  of    his    legion,  begged  and    borrowed    funds 


—  47  — 

to  charter  a  vessel,  embarked  for  Italy  to  offer  the  legion's 
services  for  Its  country's  independence.  The  staid  uniformed 
Piedmontese  Generals  in  command  of  Charles  Albert's  army  were 
not  delighted  at  the  sight  of  these  red  shirted,  long  haired,  awry 
bearded  warriors,  so  completely  in  contrast  with  their  starched 
pra.matic  appearance  and  discipline.  The  hero  was  treated  to 
plenty  of  cold  shoulder.  At  last  the  Milanese  provisional  Go- 
vernment deigned  to  accept  the  wild  men's  services.  They  were 
preparing  for  action  when  Milan  capitulated,  after  Charles  All^ert's 
defeat  and  they  repaired  to  Eome,  to  illustrate  their  valour  in  its 
glorious  defence. 

Fu:itive  and  exiled  afterwards,  our  hero  repairs  again  to 
America,  to  the  adventurous  life  as  of  yore,  so  adventurous  and 
disastrous  as  to  o'3lige  him,  all  else  failing,  to  become  for  no 
short  time  a  journeyman  in  a  diminutive  candle  factory  at  Staten 
Island. 

At  last,  in  1859  he  was  not  forgotten ;  was  recalled  by  the 
Piedmontese  Government  to  aid  in  the  war  against  Austria ;  was 
placed  in  command  of  a  special  independent  corps,  the  Alpine 
Sharpshooters,  and  as  usual,  with  rusty  old  smoothbores  for  arms, 
was  victorious  against  the  Tyrolese  rifles. 

In  1860,  at  the  head  of  nearly  a  thousand  volunteers,  who 
donned  the  red  shirt,  he  takes  command  of  an  expedition  against 
the  Kingdom  of  the  Bourbons  in  Southern  Italy,  unsanctioned 
and  unassisted  by  the  Italian  Government.  Lands  at  Mar- 
sala, defeats  the  Neapolitan  troops,  enters  into  Palermo  amongst 
Sic'lian  enthus'asm,  crosses  the  Straits  of  Messina,  lands  in  Ca- 
labria, again  overcomes  all  resistance,  marches  into  Naples,  received 
in  triumph  and.  Dictator  of  the  southern  half  of  Italy,  makes  it 
over  to  Victor  Emmanuel  at  Tcano,  retiring  to  his  Isle  of  Caprera, 
to  lead  the  solitary  lie  of  the  small  farmer,  taking  with  him, 
his  share  of  the  booty,  a  bag  of  beans  lou.ht  with  his  own 
money  for  his  frugal  table!  In  18G2  he  again  headed  an  expedi- 
tion for  freeing  the  Eoman  provinces;  Ital'an  troops  opposed  his 
advance;  as  a  reward  for  his  past  services  and  good  intentions 
he  received  a  bullet  in  his  ancle.  ];efore  commanding  his  volun- 
teers to  cease  any  resistance  and  put  an  end  to  further  fraternal 
lloodshed. 


—  48  — 

In  1866,  at  the  head  of  his  volunteers  in  the  Tyjol,  ho  was 
the  only  one  to  secure  at  Bezzecca  a  victory  to  tiie  Italian  arms. 
In  1867  he  mustered  again  his  men;  Eome  belonged  to  Italy,  his 
dearest  wish  was  to  add  that  precious  jewel  to  her  diadem.  At 
Mentana,  a  short  distance  from  the  then  frontier  of  the  Eoman 
States,  he  was  met  by  the  French  troops  occupying  Eome  for  the 
Papal  defence.  They  vaunted  then  the  wonderful  efficacy  of  the 
new  Chassepot  rifle,  so  soon  to  sink  into  insignificance  when  com- 
pared with  the  Prussian  needle  gun.  Anyways  superior  numbers 
and  superior  arms  enabled  them  easily  to  oblige  the  volunteers  to 
retreat;  the  Italian  army  stood  by,  a  passive  spectator,  bound  in 
the  liens  of  Diplomacy. 

The  General  returned  to  his  solitary  Isle  of  Caprera  until  1870, 
when  Napoleon  overthrown  at  Sedan,  the  national  defence  organised 
by  a  popular  Government,  forgetful  of  1867,  mindful  only  of  his 
devotion  to  liberty,  he  called  on  his  volunteers,  crossed  the  fron- 
tier, offering  succour  to  invaded  France.  With  his  headquarteis 
at  Dijon,  here  anew  he  was  the  only  general  who  secured  \ictory 
and  resistance  against  the  Prussian  arms. 

This  last  exploit  seals  his  mihtary  career.  Afflicted  with  rheu- 
matism and  arthrites  he  still  found  time  and  vigour  to  participate 
in  his  country's  doings,  devoted  much  attention  to  save  Eome 
and  the  Campagna  from  frequent  inundations  by  the  deviation  of 
the  Tiber,  reviewed  and  recast  his  memoirs,  took  more  active  part 
in  masonic  work  as  Grand  Master  of  the  Order.  Member  of  Par- 
liament, his  attendance  was  rare,  only  on  special  occasions  when 
some  noxious  measure  was  to  be  opposed,  some  noble  cause  sup- 
ported. 

In  187G  the  lamp  that  had  cast  sucli  refulgent  light  throughout 
the  world  flickered  and  went  out;  Garibaldi  was  no  longer  in 
the  land  of  the  living.  His  will,  worthy  of  his  temperament,  was  to 
cremate  his  body,  cast  the  ashes  on  the  rocks  of  Caprera  at  the 
mercy  of  heaven's  winds,  to  return  unto  the  living  universe  of 
matter  ;  man's  record  is  in  his  life,  his  deeds,  not  in  his  death 
and  fleshy  envelope.  So  it  is.  His  heirs,  regardful  too  much  of  the 
nation's  desires,  too  little  of  the  will  expressed,  buried  his  corpse 
at  Caprera.  There  anibng  the  rocks  it  slumbers  and  decays,  whilst 
the  immortal  radiant  figure  arises  on  high  and  lives  in  history. 


^49  — 


VICTOR  EMMANUEL  II,   the  King. 

Short,  lhicl^set,  somewhat  corpulent,  with  heavy  monstachea 
reaching  to  the  ear,  long  bushy  imperial,  tilted  nose,  prominent 
eyes,  dressed  in  a  velveteen  shooting  coat,  the  King  could  easily 
be  taken  for  a  corporal  of  the  zouaves  in  mufti,  as  the  French  troops 
lovingly  named  him,  when  he  lead  the  zouaves  in  a  desperate  charge 
on  the  battlefield  of  Palestro. 

He  ascended  the  throne  in  grievous  times  when  his  father, 
Charles  Albert,  left  him  the  cares  of  kingship,  the  woes  of  con- 
cluding a  humiliating  peace  with  Austria,  triumphant  Austria,  in 
which  part  of  his  dominion  was  subjected  to  a  foreign  garrison. 
Ha  could  have  obtained  infinitely  better  terms  had  he  consented 
to  abolish  the  constitutional  charter  and  hand  and  glove,  adopt 
Austrian  ways,  Austrian  policy.  He  stubbornly  refused  ;  rather  fight 
to  the  last,  until  not  a  man  is  left,  than  deprive  his  subjects  of 
the  liberties  granted  by  his  father ;  betake  himself  elsewhere  rather 
than  cancel  the  Italian  future  by  his  father  foreshadowed :  uphold 
the  tricolor,  the  national  colours  whilst  force  and  breath  remained 
in  his  body  ! 

So  he  submitted ;  for  six  years  his  care  was  to  govern  justly, 
to  reorganise  and  strengthen  his  army ;  then  the  first  occasion 
arose.  Together  with  the  Statesman  Cavour,  he  saw  a  first  oppor- 
tunity of  joining  hands  with  the  western  powers  by  taking  part 
in  the  Crimean  war.  Ten  thousand  picked  men  joined  the  allies, 
distinguished  themselves  against  greatly  superior  numbers  at  the 
battle  of  the  Cernaia  and  the  siege  of  Balaclava.  Piedmont  thereby, 
notwithstanding  Austria's  violent  opposition,  was  admitted  among 
the  powers  assembled  in  Congress  at  Paris  in  1850,  taking  her  part 
in  the  decisions  and  pleading  efficaciously  Italian  rights.  The  King's 
subsequent  visits  to  Paris  in  the  following  year,  to  London  in 
the  next,  received  with  friendly  hospitality  by  the  populations  and 
by  Emperor  Napoleon  and  Queen  Victoria,  increased  his  prestige 
abroad,  were  as  a  setting  to  his  kinglike  and  statesmanlike  endow- 
ments. 

4  —  Italy  past  and  present. 


-  60  — 

The  judicioufl  policy  followed,  with  his  sanction,  by  Cavour, 
induced  Austria  in  1850  to  declare  war  against  Piedmont,  thus 
bringing  into  the  field  France  her  recent  ally.  French  and  Italians 
were  together  victorious;  the  Austrian  rout  was  complete;  peace 
declared  at  Villafranca.  The  Kingdom  of  Piedmont  became  that 
of  Italy  through  the  annexation  of  Lombardy,  together  with 
Tuscany,  Parma,  Modena,  Bologna.  States  who  in  a  series  of  po- 
pular risings,  when  no  longer  supported  by  Austrian  power,  deposed 
their  various  small  despots  by  unanimous  popular  vote,  annexed 
their  territories  to  new  Italy  under  the  sceptre  of  Victor  Emmanuel. 

Though  aware  of  GaribJdl's  descent  on  Sicly  in  18G0,  expe- 
diency suggested  apparent  ignorance  and  no  interference ;  the 
ventui'e  if  successful,  was  a  further  step  towards  unity,  otherwise 
left  things  unaltered,  beyond  the  fate  of  some  hundred  generous 
youths.  Success  attended  the  modern  Argonauts;  nearly  one  half 
of  Italy  was  annexed  at  the  meeting  between  Garibaldi  and  the 
King  at  Teano. 

Notwithstanding  Viclor  Emmanuel's  valour,  that  of  his  son 
Humbert,  in  18G6  the  Italian  army  was  worsted  at  Custoza,  a 
defeat  neutralised  by  the  German  successes,  whereby  the  war 
gained  to  Italy  the  Venetian  provinces.  In  the  same  way  the 
F.-ench  defeat  in  1870  enabled  Italy  to  enter  Eome,  take  posses- 
sion of  her  Capital. 

Though  utterly  averse  to  public  ceremonial,  never  so  happy 
as  when,  shouldeiing  his  gun,  he  was  able  to  roam  about  the 
countiy,  more  than  once  trenching  on  the  hospitality  of  small 
farmers  or  peasants,  aflerwards  astounded  to  know  that  thebu:ly 
sportsman,  their  homely  guest,  was  the  King,  still  his  intuitive 
judgment  in  all  matteis  appertaining  to  the  countiy  was  unerring, 
his  boldness  far  greater  than  that  of  his  ministers,  whom  he  di.ected 
and  kept  in  hand,  with  a  wo:d  here,  a  direct  order  there,when 
any  important  political  step  was  to  be  taken. 

His  people  had  coined  for  their  King  the  loving  soubriquet 
of  the  «  Re  Galantuomo  >>  (the  honest  King)  and  he  deserved  it. 
His  honesty  is  especially  refulgent  when  called  upon  to  decide 
questions  where  his  inch'nation  clashed  with  his  constitutional 
duty. 
^  Long  friendship  and  relationship  with  Louis  Napoleon,    grati 


—  61  — 

tude  for  benefits  received,  impelled  him  in  1870  to  place  Italy's 
military  power  at  France's  disposal ;  his  ministers,  gauging  cor- 
rectly public  opinion,  the  relative  forces  opposed,  were  strongly 
against  all  intervention.  Long  and  warm  discussions  ensued,  but 
when  the  King  was  convinced  that  he  constitutionally  ought  not 
to  go  against  the  formal  opinion  of  the  coun'::y's  pa.lianicn'.ary 
representatives,  he  gave  in,  wisely  gave  in,  as  the  sequel  showed. 

A  sincere  and  devout  catholic,  also  a  friendly  reverent  admii'er 
of  Pope  Pius  IX,  when  1870  came  on  he  addressed  a  letter  to 
His  Holiness  be^^gin^  him  to  accept  in  respectful  friendship  Italian 
military  aid  and  protection.  The  Pontif's  reply  was  not  only  ne- 
gative, but  threatened  excommunication  for  whomsoever  should  pass 
the  Eoman  gates  !  Bather  than  fail  his  country  the  Kinj  accepted 
the  Church's  ban,  with  these  simple  words :  «  I  have  lost  success- 
ively mother,  wife,  brother ;  the  Church  says  it  is  God's  punish- 
ment, without  reflecting  that  a  King  to  ensure  his  happiness 
hereafter,  must  ensure  that  of  his  people  on  earth  !»  When  in  1869, 
believing  to  be  on  his  death  bed,  his  confessor,  before  administering 
the  sacraments  put  the  condition  of  si  ninj  a  recantation  equiva- 
lent to  abandoning  Eome  to  the  Pope,  he  answered:  «  I  am  a 
catholic,  as  a  catliolic  I  have  lived  and  I  die.  Should  I  have 
harmed  anyone  here  below  I  ask  God's  pardon,  but  the  signature 
you  require  is  the  political  act  of  a  constitutional  Sovereign ;  speak 
therefore  about  it  to  the  Prime  Minister  who  is  in  the  next  room; 
I  have  nothing  to  say  !  ». 

He  got  over  that  illness;  his  death  took  place  later  on  the 
9  th  of  January  1878.  He  was  and  is  mourned  as  the  «  Ee  Galan- 
tuomo  »;  no  batter  epitaph  adorns  a  King's  tomb. 


CAMILLO  CAVOUR,  the  Statesman. 

A  shrewd  calculating  Piedmontese,  imbued  with  a  profound 
patriotic  sentiment,  the  wish,  the  hope  to  compass  Itahan  unity  so 
far  as  events  and  circumstances  would  allow^.A  short,  dapper, 
round  faced  man,  ia  gold  framed  spectacles,  of  smiling  aspect, 
rubbinj  hi3  hand 3  like  a  country  notary  or  a  debonnair  shopkeeper 


8?- 


—  62  — 

to  propitiate  customers.  No  one  would  have  believed  that  the 
round  laced  man  was  capable  of  bold  sudden  resolutions  or  that 
behind  those  opulent  spectacles  were  a  pair  of  eyes  capable  of  dra- 
win.ij  forth  or  devining  the  inward  thoughts  and  intentions  of 
the  person  accosted. 

Count  Camillo  Benso  Cavour,  to  give  him  his  real  patronymics, 
came  of  an  old  noble  Piedmontese  stock;  so  noble  that  he,  as 
t':e  rest  of  the  family,  true  to  tlieir  Savoyard  descent,  like  tie 
Kings  of  the  same  race,  habitually  wrote  and  spoke  in  L^cncli  as 
their  native  idiom ;  Italian  was  an  acquired  tongue ;  easily  ac- 
quired, so  well  acquired  in  form  and  substance,  in  thought  and 
expression,  as  to  speedily  set  French  to  its  proper  use,  the  diplo- 
matic organ  of  expression  with  foreign  powers  or  persons. 

In  1835  the  Countess  de  Circourt,  with  whom  he  was  on 
friendly  terms,  wrote  beggin,'  him  to  abandon  Piedmont,  utterly 
unfit  for  developing  the  gifts  of  a  man  endoAcd  with  exceptional 
intelligence  or  for  piomisin^^  a  future  brilliant  career.  Cavour's 
answer,  he  was  barely  twenty  five,  is  nobly  cbaract eristic  of  his 
patriotism,  his  future  action.  « No,  it  is  not  by  abandoning  one's 
country,  small  or  unfortunate,  that  ilorious  ends  can  be  attained. 
Cursed  be  he  wl.o  despises  tl  e  land  of  Lis  birth,  holds  liinisdf 
something  superior  to  his  fellow  citizens.  For  my  part  I  will  never 
divide  my  lot  fr.  m  that  of  the  Piedmontese.  Happy  or  doomed, 
my  life  is  my  country's.  I  will  never  seek  fortune  else, vheie,  were 
I  sure  of  the  most  enviable  and  brilliant  fulure  av\ay  from  my 
o,vn  people ! ».  Patriotic  words  and  promises  uttered  in  his  youth, 
scrupulously  observed  until  the  day  of  his  death. 

Though  social  and  political  questions  were  Lis  favourite  studies, 
he  devoted  a  fair  part  of  his  time  to  agiicuUuie,  introducing  into 
his  estate  at  Leii  practical  improvements  in  drainage.  Lousing, 
manures,  he  had  seen  applied  duiing  his  voya_,es  to  England, 
France  and  Switzerland,  where  he  \^as  a  welcome  guest  among  land 
owners  and  pohticians  alike.  He  was  a  confirmed  free  trader.  Lad 
a  great  admiration  for  Sir  Eobert  Peel.  Besides  being  the  soul  of 
an  advanced  liberal  party,  economically  speaking,  that  he  Lad 
greatly  Lelped  to  found,  the  editor  of  a  libe.al  or^an  «  II  Eisor pi- 
mento »  (TLe  Eevival),  he  was  an  untiring  promoter  of  railroads 
and  in  the  National  Bank  of  those  times  had  been  elected  on  the 


—  63  — 

Board  of  Direction.  All  tliis  was  not  calculated  to  endear  him  to 
the  governin^^  powers,  conservative  to  the  backbone;  obliged  to 
acknowledge  his  talent,  his  unflagging  energy,  his  practical  activity, 
they  above  all  feared  the  advent  of  so  formidable  a  novator. 
Where  possible  he  was  excluded  from  public  life.  Things  could 
not  go  on  so  for  ever  ;  little  by  little  they  were  modified  ;  events  and 
new  ideas,  new  aspirations  were  throughout  Europe  maturing,  one 
by  one  the  old  school  disappeared,  to  be  replaced  by  new  men  who 
came  to  the  fore,  but  in  their  cautious  advance  could  not  fall 
into  his  ideas,  declare  a  thoroughly  liberal  policy.  They  treated, 
diplomatised,  sou'^ht  his  assistance  without  compromising  themselves 
to  his  policy.  He  let  them  bide,  kept  aloof,  pursued  evenly  his 
career,  lor  ked  after  his  estate,  edited  his  paper,  was  the  soul  of 
the  ass^cia'ioxi  that  fathered  his  aims,  awaited  patiently  his  time, 
the  hour  in  which  the  leading  men  should  wait  on  him. 

The  time  came.  During  the  patriotic  revival  in  1848,  when  all 
Italy  Avas  in  flames,  he  was  among  those  who  claimed  a  consti- 
tutional CI  arter  for  Piedmont,  was  instrumental  in  convincing  the 
King,  Charles  Albert,  to  grant  it.  At  the  general  elections  he  was 
elected  member  of  the  new  House  of  Commons,  for  some  time  was 
the  leader  of  the  more  moderate  section ;  was  then  elected  Minister 
of  Agriculture  and  Commerce.  When  the  proposal  was  presented 
to  the  King  by  the  Ministers  in  office,  he,  who  had  an  acute  per- 
ception of  human  values,  wanted  to  know  if  they  had  weighed  ma- 
turely their  proposal,  because  it  admitted  into  the  Cabinet  one 
who  would  soon  dictate  the  law  to  his  colleagues  and  many 
others. 

The  King  saw  clearly.  Very  little  time  elapsed  before  the  man's 
weight,  intellectual,  moral  stamina  gave  him  preponderance  in  the 
Cabinet  Councils,  placed  him  at  the  head  of  affairs  when  the  Mi- 
nistry, weak  in  itself,  was  no  longer  able  to  govern  the  House. 

His  time  had  come  at  last.  He  was  able  te  develop  his  policy, 
liberal  while  conservative  at  home,  far  seeing  abroad ;  watched 
and  cultivated  his  opportunity  to  secure  an  alliance  with  France 
against  Austria.  Cavour  was  never  really  liked  by  the  King,  who 
very  often  quarrelled  with  him,  because  unbending  and  stubborn 
in  his  view^s  ;  he  bore  with  him,  confirmed  him  in  power,  knowing 
and  appreciating  his  exceptional  political  value. 


—  54  — 

The  shrewd  statesman's  policy  for  gettin<?  on  intimate  terms 
with  France  and  dragging  her  into  war  with  Austria  was  simple. 
He  read  the  Emperor ;  under  a  mysterious  mask  of  restraint  and 
secret  power,  knew  his  vnnity,  his  desire  to  emulate  his  uncle's 
glory.  Playing  on  this  failing  directly  and  by  means  of  friends  in 
the  Emperor's  confidence,  showing  how  Napoleon  the  III  would 
follow  on  the  footsteps  of  Napoleon  the  I,  were  he  to  free  Italy 
from  foreign  thraldom,  be  the  author  of  the  nation's  resurrection, 
he  came  to  a  secret  understanding  by  which  France  guaranteed 
its    military  interference  should  Piedmont  bo  attacked  by  Austria. 

Italian  patriotism  in  those  years  needed  no  rousing,  it  was 
sufficient  not  to  quench  it,  both  in  Piedmont  and  in  Lombardy. 
Patriotic  associations  were  formed  within  the  limits  of  the  law, 
preparations  for  an  eventual  rising  carried  on  by  means  of  Lom- 
bards emigrated  to  Turin ;  public  spirit  was  allowed  play,  when 
it  did  not  overstep  constitutional  limits.  Austria  at  first  expostu- 
lated, afterwards  sent  a  note  requiring  this  and  that  measure  for 
suppressing  the  distasteful  manifestations,  met  by  the  cool  answer 
that  the  Ministry  was  not  disposed  to  violate  the  constitutional 
law  allowing  certain  liberties,  to  pleasure  any  foreign  power.  The 
upshot  was  Cavour's  long  sought  opportunity,  a  violent  rupture, 
Austria's  declaration  of  war,  France's  guarantee  called  into  action. 
The  Piedmontese  army  had  meantime  been  reorganised  and  strengh- 
tened,  took  the  field  with  100,000  men.  French  and  Italians 
were  victorious,  the  Lombard  Provinces  were  annexed,  whilst  Ca- 
vour's agents  in  touch  with  men  of  standing  in  the  other  small 
reigns  of  central  Italy,  when  the  population  rose,  drove  out  their 
reigning  powers,  ensured  a  popular  vote  for  annexation  to  Italy 
under  the  sceptre  of  Victor  Emmanuel. 

In  1860  Cavour's  was  a  waiting  game ;  he  had  no  sympathy 
with  Garibaldi,  it  was  reciprocal,  but  a  great  fear  of  his  engaging 
the  country,  popular  as  he  was,  in  some  headstrong  republican 
enterprise.  He  therefore  secretly  encouraged  the  Sicilian  enterprise, 
calculating  either  on  its  success  and  the  eventual  profit  to  the 
Kingdom,  or,  the  chances  seemed  greater,  on  it^  failure  and  the 
consequent  downfall  of  Garibaldi ;  a  national  profit  either  way, 
according  to  his  conservative  views  and  tendencies. 

Meanwhile  he  took  his  precautions,  sent  his  agents  to  Palermo^ 


—  56  — 

once  success  had  smiled  on  the  adventurers,  they  prevailed  on  Ga- 
ribaldi's giving  up  his  dictatorship  without  making  any  terms  as 
to  the  future  and  simply  making  over  the  conquered  provinces  to 
the  King. 

It  would  thus  seem  as  if  the  Statesman's  career  promised  for 
himself  and  his  country  a  most  brilliant  future ;  so  it  might  have 
been  had  not  death,  most  untimely  death,  cut  short  his  life  in  the 
vigour  of  his  years,  at  barely  52  in  the  year  1861. 

Cavour's  industry  was  unflagging.  Besides  continual  contribu- 
tions to  reviews  on  scientific,  social,  political  problems,  besides  his 
activity  in  the  various  public  branches,  opened  up  to  him  success- 
ively, his  correspondence  was  both  brilliant  and  voluminous.  In 
it,  more  than  elsewhere,  he  reveals  his  true  nature,  his  intellect, 
heart  and  character,  the  qualities  essential  to  a  Statesman  who  has 
gained  unto  himself  his  country's  gratitude  and  a  conspicuous  place 
in  international  History. 


k 


ROYAL  FAMILY 


For  whatever  else  reigning  Monarchs  may  lay  claim  to,  un- 
doubtedly our  constitutional  Monarch  can  lay  claim  to  seniority 
among  his  compeers. 

The  first  Duke  or  Count  of  Savoy,  founder  of  the  House  reigning 
over  the  territory.  Piedmont  and  Savoy,  stretching  in  the  Prealps 
and  the  Alpine  Hills  between  France  and  Italy,  harks  back  to  the 
very  beginning  of  the  11th  Century.  As  of  most  who  lived  in  those 
early  times,  historical  records  are  somewhat  summary  outlines  of 
Humbert  of  the  White  Hand  (Umberto  Biancamano),  founder  of 
the  dynasty,  long  before  Hohenzollerns,  Hapsburgs,  Hanoverians 
emerged  from  the  mists  of  creation. 

He  seems  to  be  undoubtedly  a  fact.  History  assigns  him  as 
father  Otho  William,  count  of  Burgundy,  who  named  him  Gover- 
nor of  Savoy,  subsequently  given  over  to  him  as  fief  by  the  Bur- 
gundian  Emperor  Conrad,  a  reward  for  devotion  and  valour  on  the 
battlefield,  against  the  rebels  to  the  Imperial  rule  headed  by  the 
Emperor's  nephew,  Otho,  count  of  Champagne,  towards  the  middle 
of  the  century. 


-  56  — 

The  lonp:  lino  of  Dukes  or  Counts  succcods  "tinintcrrnpl  edly 
until  in  recent  times  they  became  Kings.  They  took  part  in  the 
Crusades,  Humbert  the  II  with  GeolTrey  di  Buglione;  Amedeus  in 
1147  together  with  his  nephew  Louis  King  of  France.  Amedeus 
the  V,  1248  1323.  consolidated  his  House's  power  and  increased 
its  dominions.  Edward  was  the  first,  in  1324,  to  grant  charters  to 
his  subjects  and  call  a  general  parliament  to  discuss  various  grie- 
vances. Amedeus  the  VI,  the  «  Conte  Verde  »  (the  Verdant  Knight), 
so  called  for  having  in  his  youth,  attired  in  gi^een,  with  the  motto 
« j'attends  mon  astre  »  gained  the  prize  for  valour  in  a  splendid 
tournam.ent  at  Chamb^ry,  again  earned  to  the  east  the  victorious 
arms  of  Savoy.  The  Emperor  John  Paleologus  of  Bizantium  threa- 
tened on  all  sides  by  the  Turks,  appealed  for  help  to  Christianity  and 
not  in  vain.  Among  others,  Amedeus  flew  to  the  rescue.  He  took 
Gallipoli,  marc'ied  to  Constantinople,  liberated  the  Emperor,  prisoner 
of  the  Bulgarians,  after  laying  siege  to  their  Capital  Varna.  Ho 
was  the  founder  of  the  highest  order  of  Italian  Chivalry,  the  Che- 
valiers of  the  SS.  Annunzia^a,  who  have  the  right  to  wear  a  Collar 
bestowed  on  only  twenty  persons  who  are  considered  cousins  of 
the  Eoyal  Family. 

Amedeu>  VIII,  whose  virtue  was  recognised  by  the  Emperor 
Sigismund,  was  created  first  Duke  of  Savoy.  Though  Duke,  imbued 
with  religious  fervour,  he  left  in  power  his  son  Ludwig,  retired  from 
the  world's  pomps,  together  with  six  favourite  knights  withdrew  to 
the  Hermitage  of  Kipaglia,  whereby  founding  the  second  chivale- 
resque  Italian  order  of  SS.  Maurizio  e  Lazzaro  (SS.  Maurice  and 
Lazarus). 

Though  no  formal  abdication  had  been  proclaimed,  Amadous 
lived  a  cenobite's  life,  giving  advice  when  necessary,  otherwise 
devoting  himself  to  works  of  charity,  until  a  schism  broke  out  in 
the  Church  of  Eome  under  Pope  Eugene  IV.  The  opponent  pre- 
lates met  at  Basilea,  deposed  the  Pope,  elected  in  his  stead  Ame- 
deus. Though  unwilling,  he  was  induced  to  accept ;  under  the  name 
of  Felix  V  for  nine  years  was  acknowledged  and  submitted  to  as 
Pop";  by  the  greater  part  of  the  Catholic  community.  On  the  death 
of  Eugene,  when  Nicholas  V  succeeded,  Amedeus  resigned  the  tiara 
to  reestablish  unity  in  the  Church. 

Whilst  for  a  century  events  had  greatly  diminished  its  power 


I 


—  57  — 

and  lustre,  tlie  Savoyard  prestige  was  placed  upon  a  firmer  basis 
than  ever  by  Emmanuel  Philibert  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Supreme 
Captain  of  the  Spanish  troops  in  the  war  against  the  French,  com- 
manded by  Montmorency,  he  worsted  the  latter  in  the  memorable 
battle  of  S.  Quintino  10th  August  1557.  In  the  following  peace 
he  reacquired  all  his  States,  married  Marguerite  of  France,  sister 
of  the  reigning  King  Henry  II.  He  devoted  the  rest  of  his  life  to 
the  consolidation  and  government  of  his  States. 

With  Victor  Amedeus  II  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  assume  the  title 
of  Kings  of  Sardinia.  By  the  treaty  of  1713  Sicily  had  been  com- 
prised among  the  Duke's  dominions  and  he  exchanged  it  in  1720  for 
the  former  island.  He  was  a  warrior  King,  defending  his  native 
land  against  the  encroachments  of  its  powerful  neighbours,  both 
France  and  Spain.  An  heroic  episode  during  the  siege  of  Turin  has 
become  historic.  The  efforts  to  defend  the  fortress  against  the 
French  besiegers  were  ineffec' ual.  They  continually  gained  ground, 
were  on  the  point  of  forcing  the  only  huge  wooden  gate  by  vhich  an 
entrance  could  be  effected,  mined  principally  through  the  work  of 
a  poor  simple  miner,  Pietro  Micca.  Whilst  the  French  with  hatchets 
and  battering  rams  were  overcoming  this  last  obstacle,  Micca 
seeing  all  lost  called  on  his  companion  to  fire  the  train  by  him 
laid  carefully.  Seeing  him  hesitate,  he  took  the  match  from  his 
hand,  said: «  be  off,  save  your  life  as  you  value  it  more  than  I  do  » 
then  fired  the  mine.  His  body,  togeth'^r  with  those  of  three  as- 
sailing companies  of  grenadiers,  their  battery  of  cannons  werehurled 
into  the  air,  raising  a  human  monument  to  his  intrepidity. 

Charles  Albert  is  the  last  King  of  Sardinia ;  the  dynasty  be- 
comes henceforward  Italian.  His  studies  in  Paris  enhanced  and  con- 
firmed an  inherited  liberal  tendency.  He  was  the  first,  bold  enough 
to  entertain  the  idea  of  extending  his  dominion  throu^^hout  the 
Italian  territory  occupied  by  Austria,  the  Lombardo -Venetian  pro- 
vinces. In  1821,  then  heir  apparent,  he  was  supposed  to  belong  to 
the  secret  society  of  the  Carbonari,  to  have  been  cognisant  of  a 
conspiracy  organised  in  Turin  to  dethrone  his  uncle,  a  narrow 
minded  man,  the  reigning  sovereign  ;  a  conspiracy  that  fell  through 
ccmpletely. 

In  1846,  when  Pius  the  IX,  who  as  Cardinal  Mnstai  Ferretti 
was  supposed  to  entertain  liberal   Italian   tendencies,  was   elected 


—  58  — 

Pope,  a  wave  of  Italian  sentiment,  the  outcome  priaoipally  of  the 
mazzinian  propaganda,  swept  over  the  Peninsula,  curried  away  the 
King,  w  ho  hoped  to  find  in  the  new  sovereign  of  the  Papal  States 
a  congenial  spirit  with  whom  to  join  efforts  against  a  common 
enemy,  Austria.  General  enthusiastic  acclamations  awaited  both 
rulers  in  their  separate  visits  to  the  various  parts  of  their  domi- 
nions ;  1848  saw^  general  risings  throughout  the  country :  the  in- 
vaders were  compelled  to  retire,  the  Piedmontese  and  the  Papal 
armies  were  arrayed  against  the  Austrian  forces,  volunteers  frrm  all 
parts  of  the  country  flocked  to  their  banners.  The  Constitutional 
Charter  governing  Italy  at  the  present  time  was  then  granted  by 
Charles  Albert  to  the  Kingdom  of  Piedmont ;  his  example  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  Pope  who  elected  an  almost  entirely  secular  governing 
power  for  the  Eoraan  States. 

It  was  of  no  avail.  Alter  a  series  of  ba,ttles  Charles  Albert  was 
worsted  by  Eadeztky  at  Novara ;  the  Pope,  dubious  of  future 
events,  recalling  his  dreams  of  Italian  patriotism  in  his  care  for 
possible  troubles  overhanging  the  Church,  followmg  the  advice  of  the 
Austrian  Ambassador,  fled  from  turbulent  Eome,  took  refuge  in  the 
fortress  of  Gaeta.  The  citizens  of  Milan  organised  a  five  days  heroic 
resistance  against  the  victorious  Austrian  army  ;  Eome  resisted  over 
three  months,  Garibaldi  commanding,  against  the  armies  brought  to 
overcome  her  by  France,  Spain  and  Kaples,  was  then  overcome, 
obliged  to  capitulate  and  the  Pope  escorted  by  French  troops  re- 
turned to  Eome  no  longer  an  Italian,  but  the  Head  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Charles  Albert,  wounded  to  the  core,  after  sig'nin^  an 
armistice  and  peace  with  Eadetzky,  abdicated  in  favour  of  his 
eldest  son  Victor  Emmanuel;  he,  whose  privilege  it  was  to  jeopardise 
his  crown  for  Italian  Unity,  to  see  his  efforts  crowned  with  success 
and  be  the  first  to  mount  the  Italian  throne.  Of  whom  more  is  said 
when  touching  on  the  prime  factors  of  Italy's  rebirth  as  a  nation. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Humbert,  whose  regal  consort 
and  cousin  Marguerite  was  distinguished  and  is  distinguished  as 
Dowager  Queen,  for  rare  accomplishments  of  mind,  person  and 
soul.  The  King,  an  example  of  correct  const ituti anal  conduct,  de- 
voted much  of  his  time  to  military  matters,  was,  as  all  the  mem- 
b,ers  of  his  House,  unfearing  j  to  this  he  owes  his  untim(}ly  unhappy 
death. 


—  59  — 

Walking  in  his  park  at  Monza,  welcoming  without  the  slightest 
fear  the  crowd  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  a  fanatic  sprang 
upon  him,  wounded  him  mortally  with  a  dagger.  He  fell,  victim 
to  his  courage  and  faith  in  those  for  whom  he  lived  and  reigned, 
leaving  in  death  a  perscnification  of  his  house's  loyalty  to  its  coun- 
try and  its  institutions. 

We  believe  our  actual  Eoyal  Family  to  be  the  best  in  Europe, 
not  only  for  its  Head's  scrupulous  observance  of  the  people's  li- 
berties, of  the  provisions  enacted  in  the  Constitutional  Charter,  but 
also  for  his  strict  sense  of  Eoyal  duty,  his  broad  understanding, 
his  modern  views  in  complete  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  times, 
his  extensive  knowledge,  his  exemplary  f.imily  life,  aided  in  all  by 
his  Eoyal  Consort,  a  model  wife  and  mother,  in  all  charitable  in- 
stitutions the  practical  guiding  mind,  the  willing  soul.  Their  chil- 
dren, fine  healthy  boys  and  girls,  h'gh'y  iuslr acted  in  their  s^'mple 
congenial  family  hfe.  Whereby  our  re" gning  familly  seems  to  u^>  an 
example  of  Eoyalty  to  all  Crowned  He.ids  in  Europe.  Let  their 
portraits  speak  for  them. 


STATUS 

Having  enlarged  somewhat  on  persons,  one  may  now  give  a 
cursory  glance  at  things;  the  more  so  as  they  reprtsjnt  collective 
not  individual  effort,  the  nation's,  not  this  or  that  distinguished 
citizen's  life. 

vSeveral  elements  are  necessary  to  gauge  accurately  a  nation's 
civil,  moral,  political,  economical  progress  ;  its  measuie  of  civili- 
ration,  its  status  among  nations.  For  the  foimer  comparisons  with 
the  past,  for  the  latter  comparisons  with  its  competitors  in  the 
sanks  of  humanity. 

Much  might  be  adduced  tabularly,  or  otherwise,  much  cannot, 
considering  our  guide's  abridged  form:  compression  must  be  power- 
fully applied  to  summarise  and  convey  in  tables  the  greateiit 
amount  of  information. 

Politically,  laws,  franchise,  form  of  g'>verment;  economioally, 
commerce,  credit,  traffic,  industry,  general  and  individual  we:A[h  ; 


—  60  — 

morally,  education,  instruction,  criminality;  civilly,  local  and  national 
institutions ;  lastly  comparison  under  these  hoads  with  other  na- 
tions contribute  one  and  all  to  establish  an  international  standing 
grounded  on  facts. 

Politically,  owing  to  the  scrupulous  observance  of  the  Charter 
by  the  reigning  Sovereigns,  Italy  has  enjoyed  and  does  enjoy 
amongst  nations  the  largest  measure  of  liberty  and  tolerance  to 
extreme  parties ;  excessive  perhaps,  according  to  some  minds. 

The  Charter  granted  by  Charles  Albert  in  1848  established  a 
Constitutional  Monarchy,  where  the  King  reigns  and  the  Nation 
governs  by  means  of  its  legitimate  representatives.  Senate  and 
House  of  Commons,  who  designate  an  Executive  and  make  the  laws. 
The  King  is  the  head  of  the  Executive,  sanctions  its  formation, 
commands  the  military  forces  by  land  and  sea,  gives  his  approval 
to  all  legislative  and  executive  measures,  ratifies  treaties  with  foreign 
Powers.  This  Charter  has  been  most  faithfully  observed  by  the 
descendants  of  Charles  Albert,  Victor  Emmanuel  11,  Humbert  I,  and 
the  reigning  Monarch,  Victor  Emmanuel  III.  Ministries  retain  power 
so  long  as  they  command  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The 
latter  must  be  submitted  to  the  reelection  of  the  country  every  five 
years  if  not  sooner.  The  franchise  was  at  first  restricted  to  a  small 
number  of  electors  on  a  high  property  basis  and  the  members  of 
learned  bodies,  who  therefore  appropriated  the  508  constituencies 
into  which  the  countiy  is  divided.  Within  the  last  fifty  years,  at 
several  periods,  the  franchise  has  been  gradually  extended,  until, 
under  the  late  ministry,  ^^ith  Sig.  Giolitti  as  Premier,  universal 
suffrage  was  proclaimed  and  adopted. 

Municipal  franchise  is  as  the  political ;  as  is  municipal  govern- 
ment, with  the  exception  of  there  being  one  legislative  body  instead 
of  two.  Universal  franchise  elects  a  Municipal  Council,  whose  number 
is  proportioned  to  the  population,  with  power  to  govern,  enact 
local  legislation,  appoint  an  executive  consisting  of  the  Mayor  and 
the  heads  of  the  departments  into  which  the  administration  is 
divided.  One  third  of  the  municipal  council  is  renewed  every  two 
years ;  though,  subject  to  government  control  and  supervision,  it 
can  at  any  time  be  totally  dissolved  by  the  Home  Minister. 

A  second  local  subdivision  is  the  division  of  the  country  into 
69  Provinces,  whose  administration  is  presided  over  by  the  Prefect, 


—  61  — 

a  government  official,  assisted  by  a  Provincial  Council  and  execu- 
tive, the  former  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  the  latter  by  the 
Council  itself.  The  body's  power  lays  over  the  provincial  com- 
munications by  land  or  wat;  r,  the  insane  and  such  measures  as 
may  concern  collective  provincial  interests,  without  trenching  on 
the  powers  entrusted  to  the  Communes.  The  Province,  by  means 
of  a  special  executive  body,  enjoys  a  power  of  supervision  on 
all  the  single  municipal  administrations. 

On  the  same  lines  as  the  suffrage,  primary  instruction  has 
spread,  though  in  an  old  and  poor  country,  principally  agricultural, 
divided  up,  among  mountains  and  valleys,  into  over  8000  commu- 
nes and  their  fractions,  to  wh'ch  the  school  organisation  is  entrust- 
ed, progress  has  been  relatively  slow. 

In  the  country  the  peasants,  with  the  small  modicums  of  land 
assigned  to  them,  tilled  mostly  by  hand  labour,  make  use  of  their 
children  at  a  very  early  age,  in  looking  after  pigs,  poultry,  sheep 
and  smaller  children  ;  they  are  thus  jBnancially  interested  in  keep- 
ing them  away  from  school.  Another  difficulty  is  in  the  distance 
hamlets,  spread  over  the  territoiy,  are  from  any  small  centre  v^here 
a  school  can  be  established  ;  hamlets  and  cottages  located  frequently 
in  inaccessible  spots,  shut  out  from  comm'inication  with  the  outer 
world  in  bad  weather.  Notwithstanding  these  physical  and  moral 
obstacles,  considerable  progi-ess  has  been  made. 

Not  many  years  ago,  perhaps  not  more  than  five  and  twenty, 
the  number  of  illiterate,  between  men  and  women,  with  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  litter,  boi'dered  on  seventy  per  cent  of  the  po- 
pulation ;  now  it  is  under  fifty ;  and  every  year  that  passes,  with 
ncAT  roads  opened  out,  ne^^  schools,  new  laws,  more  stringent  in 
compelling  compulsory  attendance,  new  evening  schools  for  daily 
labourers,  all  ths  summed  up  together,  with  a  growing  conviction 
as  to  the  necessity  of  attaining  elementary  instruction,  is  reducing 
rapidly  to  a  normal  proportion  the  destitute  of  the  three  E's.  Within 
five  years,  one  can  boldly  affirm  that  Italy  will  be  on  a  par  with 
the  most  advanced  countries  in  this  respect,  though  it  will  take 
time  and  generations  to  form  the  conscience  of  the  agricultural  po- 
pulation, impressing  on  it  the  Economical  advantage  of  losing  time 
in  gaining  knowledge. 

As  instruction  cannot  suppress  criminal   tendencies  or  the  in- 


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